Care in Handling the Foal 33 



that he is Hkely to do anything, even to fatally in- 

 juring himself by running into telephone poles, 

 gate posts, buildings and the like. Since it is not 

 possible to teach an excited or frightened animal, we 

 must first of all make it clear to him what he is ex- 

 pected to do. 



Make first lessons short and simple. — In handling 

 the foal, the first few lessons should not exceed fifteen 

 minutes in length, as this is sufficient time to impress 

 an idea on his mind. These early lessons should be 

 exceedingly simple, so as to avoid confusion. Take 

 up one thing at a time, and be sure the colt fully un- 

 derstands what is wanted and how to do it before 

 passing to another. As advancement is made, teach 

 the lessons in the most useful order and always re- 

 peat each in the order taught. Soon the foal can 

 be relied upon to go through the list in order given 

 without a break. On the other hand, if the work is 

 given in a haphazard manner, then all is uncertain as 

 to just what the animal can be depended upon to ac- 

 complish. If the work is continued too long and 

 the colt fatigued either mentally or physically, his 

 power of memorizing is weakened, and if the work is 

 complicated, he may become confused. To avoid 

 this make the work short and simple, particularly 

 in the beginning. 



Teach the young foal useful things only. — As a 

 rule the foal is full of life, bright and easily taught, 

 and for these reasons he is often taught mischievous 



