136 TAMING HORSES. 



out pulling at him. Then let him stand a few mi- 

 nutes, keeping his head in the right direction with 

 the halter, and he will walk in in less thau ten 

 minutes. Never attempt to pull the colt into the 

 stable ; that would make him think at once that it 

 was a dangerous place, and if he was not afraid of 

 it before he would be then. Besides, we do not 

 want him to know anything about pulling on the 

 halter. Colts are often hurt, and sometimes killed, 

 by trying to force them into the stable ; and those 

 who attempt to do it in that way go into an up- 

 hill business, when a plain smooth road is before 

 them. 



If you want to hitch your colt, put him in a tol- 

 erably wide stall, which should not be too long, 

 and should be connected by a bar or something of 

 that kind to the partition behind it; so that, after 

 the colt is in, he cannot get far enough back to 

 take a straight, backward pull on the halter; then, 

 by hitching iiim in the centre of the stall, it would 

 be impossible for him to pull on the halter, the 

 partition behind preventing him from going back, 

 and tiie halter in the centre checking him every 

 time he turns to the right or left. In a stall of 

 this kind you can break any horse to stand hitched 

 by a light strap, anywhere, without his ever know- 

 ing anything about pulling. But if you have bro- 

 ken your horse to lead, and have learned him the 



