22 The Horse and his Master 



trained until he can be managed under all circum- 

 stances by an}^ one familiar with horses. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS IN HORSE TRAINING 



Having considered the horse's low degree of in- 

 teUigence and the fact that he can neither reason nor 

 draw conclusions and must learn therefore by as- 

 sociation of ideas; that he possesses an excellent 

 memory which can be easily trained ; that the only 

 means of communicating information to him is by 

 the special senses, particularly those of feehng, see- 

 ing and hearing ; and having considered the objects 

 of training, as well as the more important methods, 

 we may now note some of the more important under- 

 lying principles in the practice of horse training. 



The earlier in life the training begins the more 

 useful animal he will make. The young horse has 

 fewer ideas of his own and is more willing to accept 

 the direction of a superior intelligence than the older 

 animal. It is therefore of advantage to begin the 

 training in early colthood when at all convenient. 



In training, we endeavor to increase the horse's 

 serviceability by rendering him readily subservient 

 to our will. In doing this we exaggerate the horse's 

 idea of those of his powers which are useful and at 

 the same time deceive him as to those attributes 

 which if realized might impair his usefulness. Thus 

 the first time a draft horse is hitched to a load much 



