HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 211 



the whip in order to learn his own speed. When a 

 horse is picked down to his trot, after you have got him 

 at his best jump, he is forced to trot fast as lightning for 

 four or five strides, or go on to the ground. Such a 

 gait, even for a few steps, to a green horse, is a revelation 

 to liimself. It gives him a hint that he never forgets, or 

 fails to improve upon. It is to him what the first dozen 

 strokes in the water are to a young swimmer, — a revela- 

 tion and an ecstasy. He can do it! The feat is ac- 

 complished! " Hurrah! It is just so with a young 

 horse. After his first successful burst of speed, he is a 

 new creature. A knowledge of his own powers, of 

 which he had not dreamed, has come to him. He is 

 lifted on the wings of a new pride. Henceforth he is 

 ambitious to excel. His career has begun. 



The most difficult point in settling a horse from a 

 run to a trot is, not in picking him up, but in easing 

 him away. In nineteen cases out of twenty, the horse 

 is quicker than the man. We ho'ld our horses too long: 

 we do not let them catch their trot when they are 

 ready to do it. Bear this in mind, reader, the next 

 time your horse breaks ; and, when the moment has 

 come, let go of him. Let every thing go by the run, as 

 sailors say. Still this should be observed, — that it is 

 well to steady or restrain the horse slightly for an 

 instant after the break, in order that he may have an 

 opportunity to collect his thoughts, and confirm his 

 stroke : but still the law is, to keep him going ; that is, 

 if your object is to make speed. 



