558 The Book of the Horse. 



never whip one until he is angry and ready to fight you— it would be better not to touch him. 

 As soon as you have frightened him, so that he will stand up and pay attention to you, approach 

 him again, and caress until he forgets that you whipped him. 



"When you have established a certain degree of familiarity, which, according to the disposition 

 of the colt, may take minutes or hours, approach him, taking in your hand a good leather halter. 

 (See illustration of cavesson, p. 563.) Never use a hemp halter and running noose for this 

 purpose, as it will hurt the colt's nose, and create an additional difficulty. Stand at the left 

 side pretty well back, and with both hands slip the halter over his head and buckle it. This 

 operation may require a good deal of patience and temper on the part of the man. As soon 

 as the halter is on, fasten to it a rope or strap long enough to let him go the length of the 

 barn without your being obliged to let go the rope, for if you only let him feel the weight of 

 your hand on the halter, and give him rope when he runs from you, he will not be inclined to 

 rear, pull, or throw himself down. Thus you will be holding him and teaching him the first 

 lesson of restraint without allowing him to find out his strength ; as he soon would in a game 

 of ' pull devil, pull baker.' 



" Shorten the cord by degrees. As soon as he will allow you to hold him by a tolerably 

 short strap, and to go alongside him without flying back, you can begin to give him a lesson 

 in leading. With this view do not attempt to pull him after you, but pull him quietly in a 

 half circle ; he must bend his neck and shift his foot. Caress him, reward him with some 

 food, a carrot or a few oats ; repeat the operation again and again to the right and to the 

 left, until that, having lost all fear of you, he will think that he is compelled to follow the 

 indication of the halter when you pull it. After a few lessons of this kind, under cover, he 

 will look to you for food, and come up to you wherever he is. After fully practising in the 

 stable, lead him out into a quiet yard or paddock, taking care that there is nothing to frighten 

 him. Walk out through the door, which should be wide, holding the halter with the left 

 hand close to his jaw and the right hand holding to his mane. Do not let any one come near 

 you when you first lead him out. 



"When the colt will lead freely and obey the halter, the next step is to gradually accustom 

 him to all sights and sounds, by leading him about and never forcing him up anything he is 

 afraid of, but always encouraging him to smell it and touch it. 



" A colt bred on an owner's farm ought, by the time he is three years old, to have gone 

 through all the preliminary education to which colts that have been running wild up to that 

 age must pass, and should have worn a headstall from six months old, and been taught to 

 lead and to face all ordinary sights." 



LONGEING. 



Longeing properly employed teaches a horse obedience, but as it is very easy to make 

 a horse run round a circle urged by a whip, and as it looks like business, it is a way of 

 tiring a high-spirited horse, which is very much abused. 



The cavesson must be fitted to the colt's head very carefully. If the noseband is too 

 high it has no power; if it is too low, resting on the soft cartilages of the nose, it will impede 

 respiration, and if jerked cause an acute pain, likely to cause rearing, and to create 

 spavins, curbs, and strains of the hind-legs. It must also fit the colt's head so as not to turn 

 round when the rein is drawn tight. The eyelids of colts have been seriously injured by a 

 longeing rein in the hands of an ignorant man. 



" It is absurd to believe, as colt-breakcrs tell you, that longeing will supple an animal that 



