BRKAiciNU-m.] MODEEN VETERINAEY PEACTICK 



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will begin to pull with tho rest, wlioii liia loail 

 may bo gratlually inoreadi'd. 



Tho agricultural horso is wanted to rido as 

 well as to draw. His first lesson should, 

 thoreCoro, bo given when ho is in tho team. 

 Let his i'eeilor, if possible, bo first put upon 

 hiiu : ho will be too much hampered by his 

 harness, and by tho other horses, to make 

 Muich resistance ; and, in tho majority of cases, 

 will quietly and at once submit. In riding, 

 no whip or spur should bo used in giving the 

 animal his first lessons. 



"When he begins to understand his business, 

 backing, tho most difficult part of his work, 

 may be taught hira. To accomplish this he 

 must first be made to back well without any- 

 thing behind him, then with a light cart, and 

 afterwards with some heavier load, taking the 

 greatest care not seriously to hurt the mouth. 

 If the first lesson causes soreness or inflam- 

 mation of the gums, the colt will not readily 

 submit to a second. If he has been rendered 

 tractable before, by kind usage, time and 

 patience will do all that can be wished Here. 

 Some carters are in the habit of blinding the 

 colt when teaching him to back. This may 

 be necessary with the restive and obstinate 

 one, but it should be resorted to only when all 

 other attempts to back him have failed. It 

 is an admirable plan to teach a horse to back 

 without blinkers, for many accidents have oc- 

 curred from horses h.iving had their bridles 

 slipped oft', and through not being accustomed 

 to see the vehicle behind them, have become 

 terrified, and set oiF at full speed, to the de- 

 struction often of themselves and of whatever 

 object with which they may come in contact. 



The colt having been thus partially broken- 

 in, the necessity of implicit obedience may be 

 taught him. This is not to be done by 

 severity, but by firmness and steadiness. The 

 voice will go a great way, but whip or spur is 

 sometimes indispensable. The application of 

 either of these instruments, however, is not to be 

 of such a severe kind as to excite the animal to 

 resistance, but to convince him that his driver 

 or master has the power to enforce submis- 

 sion. Few horses are naturally of a vicious 

 disposition. It is generally bad usage w'hich 

 has first provoked resistance, which has 

 brought upon them severer chastisement, and 

 which, as a matter of course, the fear or the 



stubbornnesB of tho quadnipod has atill fur- 

 ther iucreaHi'd. Open warfare then onaues; 

 dislike takes place on both sides; tho man 

 liates tho horso, and tho horso hatoH tho man ; 

 when both aro rendered unfit to perform their 

 dutica pro|)erly together. Correction may, or 

 must bo used, to enforce implicit obedience 

 after tho education has proceeded to a certain 

 extent, but tho early lessons should bo incul- 

 cated with kiudness alone. Young colts an; 

 sometimes very perverse ; many days will oc- 

 casionally pass before they will permit the 

 bridle to be put on, or the saddle to bo worn ; 

 but one act of harshness will often double or 

 treble this time. Patience and kindness will, 

 after a while, prevail. This, succeeded by ad- 

 ditional kindness and soothing on the part of 

 the breaker, and no inconvenience or pain being 

 suffered by the animal, all resistance becomes 

 at an end. 



The same principles will apply to the break- 

 iug-in of the horse for the road or the chase. 

 The handling, and some portion of instruction, 

 should, as we have said, commence from the 

 time of weaning. The future tractabilitv of 

 the animal depends much on this. At two 

 years and a-half, or three years, the regular 

 process of breaking-in should come on. If it 

 be delayed until the horse is four years old, 

 his strength and obstinacy will be more diffi- 

 cult to overcome. A headstall is put on the 

 colt, and a cavesson, or apparatus to confine 

 and pinch the nose, affixed to it, with long 

 reins. He is first accustomed to rein, then 

 led round a ring on soft ground, and at length 

 mounted and taught his paces. Next to pre- 

 serving his temper and docility, there is nothing 

 of so much importance as to teach him every 

 pace, and every part of his duty, distinctly and 

 thoroughly. Each must constitute a separate 

 and sometimes long-continued lesson, taught 

 by a man who will never 8uff"er his own temper 

 to overcome his discretion. 



After the cavesson has been attached to the 

 headstall, and the long rein put on, tho first 

 lesson is, to have him led quietly about by the 

 breaker. A steady boy should follow behind, 

 and occasionally threaten with the whip, 

 but never give an actual blow, his only duty 

 being to keep the colt up. When the animal fol- 

 lows readily and quietly, he may be taken to the 

 ring, and walked round, right and left, in a very 



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