158 TAMING HORSES. 



very wrong to jump up behind a horse to drive 

 him as soon as they have him hitched. There are 

 too many things for him to comprehend all at once. 

 The shafts, the lines, the harness, and the rattling 

 of the sulky, all tend to scare him, and he must be 

 made familiar with them by degrees. If your 

 horse is very wild, I would advise you to put up 

 one foot the first time you drive him. 



HOW TO MAKE A HORSE LIE DOWN. 



Everything that we want to teach the horse 

 must be commenced in some way to give him au 

 idea of what you want him to do, and then be re- 

 peated till he learns it perfectly. To make a horse 

 lie down, bend his left fore leg and slip a loop over 

 it, so that he cannot get it down. Then put a sur- 

 cingle around his body, and fasten one end of a 

 long strap around the other fore leg, just above the 

 hoof. Place the other end under the surcingle, so 

 as to keep the strap in the right direction ; take a 

 short hold of it with your right hand ; stand on 

 the left side of the horse, grasp the bit in your left 

 hand, pull steadily on the strap with your right; 

 bear against his shoulder till you cause him to 

 move. As soon as he lifts his weight, your pulling 

 will raise the other foot, and he will have to come 



