Training Young Horses to Work 47 



The breed, the individuality and the work per- 

 formed all have a bearing upon the age to begin 

 training. As a rule, the draft breeds mature younger 

 than the lighter breeds, and therefore may be put to 

 moderate work younger. Some individuals develop 

 more rapidly than others, and as they mature earlier 

 they may be put to work younger. The work per- 

 formed likewise has a bearing on the age of training. 

 Thus in the case of the draft horse, where force 

 applied at the collar is required, or in the case of the 

 saddle horse, where the weight is borne upon the 

 horse's back, the animal should be reasonably 

 mature. On the other hand, when the horse is 

 intended for fast work on the race track, many good 

 horsemen feel that the training cannot begin too 

 soon; thus we often find these men constructing 

 miniature tracks around which the animals are led 

 or driven by means of a long line by the time they 

 are weaned, sometimes before. 



The breed and the work performed exert an influ- 

 ence on the amount of training required. As a rule, 

 the draft breeds are much more easily trained than 

 the lighter breeds. There are two reasons for this : 

 First, the draft breeds are larger, quieter and neither 

 so active nor so high-strung as the lighter types. 

 They are much more easily handled and not so likely 

 to go wrong as the lighter types. Second, the work 

 that draft breeds are called on to perform does not 

 require the continuous training that is required of 



