Of Breaking in Trotting. — A gaining Break. — Snatching to be avoilod- 

 — How to catch the Horse to his Trot. — Nature of the catching Pull. — 

 The Horse to be steadied when he has caught. — A Break sometimes 

 desirable. — How to bring it about. — Confidence of the Horse in hia 

 Driver. — Sagacity of Horses. — To prevent a Break. — Signs of one 

 coming. 



IN the consideration of the art of driving a trotting- 

 horse, another important part is that of breaking. As a 

 general rule, breaking is to be avoided rather than encour- 

 aged and promoted ; though there are times when a trotter 

 may be broken with advantage to his speed and staying-power 

 in the latter part of the work. There is, however, no horse 

 but will break sometimes, and that when he is not tired ; 

 for the steadiest and stoutest of trotters may break through 

 a false step. When you are educating a horse for the pur- 

 pose of making a trotter of him, you must endeavor to 

 shape his action in his breaks. Just as it depended 

 whether you should make a puller of him by your way of 

 driving in his educational period, so it depends whether you 

 shall teach him to make a gaining break, — which is to 

 say, to lose nothing in space, and gain something by 

 change of muscular action, — or whether you shall suffer 

 him to become a bad, losing breaker. In the one case, 

 nothing is actually lost by a break ; in the other, you drop 

 behind largely, often so far that it cannot be made up. 



Then, when tlie horse is being formed for a trotter, he is 

 not to be suddenly snatched at when he breaks : if he is, he 

 will contract a habit of dropping back in his harness, and 

 almost coming to a stand-still as soon as he breaks. You 



81^8 



