MKLl'iU;!. A D.I UNCI'S. 175 



at least one good man. Tlie lioiae should l)e perfectly quiet, yet 

 free and willing, and always steady and true at a pull. There is 

 nothing so infectious anioiigsD horses as jibbing. Far bettei- to 

 break the colt in without any other horse than to put hiui 

 alongside of a jil». ^'our man siiould be good tempered and have 

 courage enough to keep his senses about him, and to keep away 

 the too common a|)prehension thit every horse is full of some 

 Avicked designs upon him. \<m\v break, or (.-arriage, should be 

 light, and you must see that it is put in a clear open place, 

 where no stopping or turning will be required, and the wheels on 

 hard ground where they will start easily. See that pole straps, 

 and every article of harness, are in their right place, and both 

 horses securely and comfortably harnessed with reins and every- 

 thing else in good order and correctly adjusted. We have never 

 known an accident or mishap that was not the result of some 

 deficiency in these precautious. 



38G. — Have no talkers or alarmists about you. Put the old 

 horse in first, on the right side, and with a chain attached to his 

 bar, short and strong enough to allow him to draw the carriage 

 without any assistance, and even with some resistance from the 

 colt, though none is likely from a colt prepared as he should be. 



387. — If you have good assistants you had better get up and 

 take the reins as soon as the colt has been placed alongside of the 

 pole. Let one assistant stand before his head and hold the colt 

 in a way that he will hardly feel or know it, not with a 

 trembling, flurried hand shaking each side of his mouth. Let 

 the other assistant first fasten the pole strap and then the reins, 

 and you must see that all is right and clear before he fastens 

 either of the traces. Then let him fasten first the right and then 

 the left trace quickly. The moment this is done your best 

 assistant should come from the front to the side of the colt's 

 head, whilst you give the old horse the signal to start, and 

 your assistant 'gently restrains the colt from rushing into the 

 collar until the break is well started. He should run beside the 

 colt until he sees that he is not wanted, and then get up in the 

 break without stopping. (Jet oti" at a slow pace if possible, but 

 it is better to go fast for a little way than to check the colt 

 rashly. 



