104 WHI}' AND SPUR. 



more urging than any other. The racehorse that pulls hard on the 

 bridle at a gallop, will often require a frequent touch with the 

 spur to keep him up to a good fast walk, and the colt is still more 

 likely to require it to admonish him that he must n^t stop to stare 

 at all the strange objects he passes. 



210. — There arc many reasons why the spur is preferable to 

 the wlii]) for this purpose. In the first place it is far more 

 eifectual ; it comes without warning, and the horse cannot watch 

 it. or swerve from it, as from a whip. In, the second place the 

 whip, at I his stage of the colt's education, should be used as a 

 guiding monitor rather than as an instrument of jmnishment, and, 

 for many obvious reasons, the colt is best not to feel much of it. 

 Thirdly, the spur, though more dreaded by the colt, inflicts far 

 less pain upon him. The most superficial prick answers the 

 purpose far better than anything more (180), and even the 

 deepest prick that a properly made spur would inflict would not 

 carry so much future pain as a whip used hard enough to produce 

 a weal. 



511. — With so many new objects about him, the colt, like a 

 child, will be very apt to be inattentive to some of the signals he 

 has learned, and the light whip must be at hand to instantly 

 call his attention to his negligence. No inattention to any rein 

 signal must be allowed to pass unnoticed, at this stage, or the 

 fine mouth may be lost. There must be no heavy long-continued 

 dragging, far less any jerking af the reins, or the mouth will 

 certainly be spoiled. If the cole does not instantly answer to a 

 slight pull of the rein to one side, accompanied by a barely 

 perceiitible turn of your body and legs in the direction you wish 

 him to turn, let a gentle tap of the whip on the opposite side be 

 immediately added to move him in the right direction. The 

 touch should be one that will not hurt him in the least ; the 

 object is not to punish but to arouse his attention just as you 

 would touch or tap the shoulder, rather than raise your voice to a 

 child, who was looking at something else whilst you were speaking 

 to him. .V hard stroke would not even answer the purpose, but 

 would be far more likely to provoke a fight and produce a result 

 the opposite to that desired. One tap is almost always enough, 



