1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



71 



if not, should have a box stall and a yard for 

 exercise, and entire freedom from restraint in 

 her motions, by tying. &c. Generally speak- 

 ing, no other or peculiar care is required than 

 nature gives the mare the instinct to seek for 

 herself, though if we artificially interfere with 

 this instinct, we ought to provide as nearly as 

 may be the natural conditions of the animal. 



Third. The foal being born, for a few weeks 

 needs no care but the mother's, though if it is 

 accustomed to being handled and caressed from 

 the very first, it will be easier to break. It is 

 well, too, to let the colt accompany the mare 

 in the light work she may do while nursing, as 

 it thereby gets accustomed to the objects that 

 it is to be familiar with afterwards, and to 

 learn more early the great lesson of obedience. 

 Good pasturage for the mare, and freedom, 

 are the best lor both, as it is the most natural. 

 As soon as weaned, and when conveniently 

 situated, even earlier, the colt should be 

 broken to the halter and taught daily, with 

 patience and gentleness, some r of the many 

 lessons it has got to learn. Too much care 

 and kindness cannot be used, and the great 

 majority of the faults of horses are the results 

 of faults of the owner, in breaking. Good 

 feed, sufficient to keep the colt steadily grow- 

 ing, rowen, roots, and green fodder, with but 

 little grain, where these can be obtained, are 

 the best. 



The different processes in bitting, harnessing 

 and accustoming the colt to vehicles and use, 

 should be gradually, but steadily pursued, and 

 above all things it should never be frightened 

 or allowed to break away from control. The 

 more of this that is accomplished the first year 

 the easier and the better it will be. The same 

 management should be followed the second 

 year. As fast as size and strength will permit, 

 more attention should be given to what is too 

 much neglected, the paces. These can be 

 taught in the second year better than perhaps 

 any other time, and a wonderful change can be 

 made in the walk, trot, canter or gallop of a 

 colt, if proper care and attention is used. 

 Natural defects cannot be wholly overcome, 

 but almost as much may be gained in these as 

 in other particulars by thorough and system- 

 atic training. This is a matter too much 

 neglected, and many a horse has a very un- 

 comfortable gait all his life, from want of train- 

 ing. He can neither walk without breaking 

 into a trot, nor trot without breaking into a 

 canter, and if urged, or if left to himself mixes 

 up these different paces to the great annoyance 

 of the driver. The great rule to be observed 

 in this training is to keep the several paces en- 

 tirely distinct. When training, the walk should 

 be first practiced, and this should be made as 

 rapid as possible, without breaking. He should 

 first be permitted to trot a few steps and then 

 walk. 'And when he has learned to walk well and 

 rapidly for his size and figure, trotting should 

 be attended to,, and in trotting the same rule 

 should be carefully observed. Keep him trot- 



ting while the lesson lasts, and never allow him 

 to slack into a walk any more than break into 

 a canter. There is nothing gained by being 

 in a hurry to make the colt show speed in trot- 

 ting. Patient training without anxiety on the 

 point of speed, will make a much faster horse, 

 than ovc urging at first. Still a colt should, 

 after bemg taught to walk fast and trot steadi- 

 ly, be occasionally pushed to his speed in trot- 

 ting. This should be done for only a very 

 short distance at first, while it may be gradu- 

 ally increased as the power and stamina of the 

 animal increase. If it is desired to fit him for 

 use under the saddle, — a practice that has in- 

 creased immensely since the war, — he should 

 be taught as soon as he can bear a light weight 

 on his back, (not too young for fear of injury,') 

 the best saddle gait in the same way as the 

 other paces. And as before, and always, the 

 greatest pains to be taken to keep these dis- 

 tinct from each other. 



Although a colt should be thus broken, 

 handled, driven and ridden before three years 

 old, still too much care cannot be used to pre- 

 vent over-exertion, and permanent injury 

 therefrom. Two or three miles a day, with a 

 light carriage, is the outside work such a colt 

 ought to do ; and as this is so generally done 

 in the village or neighborhood, if not always 

 thought about, the distance is very apt to be 

 exceeded before the driver is aware. Of 

 course, while thus training, attention should be 

 paid to the habits of stoj ping at the word, 

 and not starting till the signal is given ; of how 

 much weight should be borne on the bit, and 

 of all the other things which go to make up a 

 pleasant driver. 



As I said at first, if a filly at three years old, 

 I would breed from her and raise a colt, sus- 

 pending the training and using during so much 

 of the time as would be likely to interfere with 

 the growth of the foetus, and parturition, and 

 the first weeks of nursing. 



I have thus given my best answer to these 

 three questions. I shall be satisfied if they 

 provoke criticism or elicit discussion, and thus 

 set me and the other members to adopting the 

 right course. J. S. I^eyes. 



Concord, Nov. 14, 1867. 



■WESTERN NOBTH CABOIiIKTA. 



The climate of this section much resembles 

 that of the North-Eastern States, though it is 

 neither so cold in winter nor so warm in sum- 

 mer. The reason of this is found in the fact 

 that though we are in the 35th parallel of lati- 

 tude, we have an average elevation of more 

 than 2000 feet above the sea. Though we are 

 in the latitude of the cotton-growing belt, yet 

 we are elevated many hundred feet above it. 

 This secures us at all seasons one of the finest 

 and most bracing atmospheres found east of 

 the Pacific slope. Hence it is that we are 

 strangers to all miasmatic diseases. 



It is known to almost all the natives of this 



