METHOD OF TEEATMEXT. 287 



intensified that she would not repeat the habit ; and as a 

 matter of precaution to test her as thoroughly as he could, 

 then hitch her as I had done. I met the owner a week 

 afterward, when he told me there were not men enough in 

 town to make her pull hard enough now to break a tow 

 string. 



At Marion, N. Y., where I made a large class many 

 years before, I found a twenty-four-year-old mare that had 

 not been hitched for ten years ; also a daughter and grand- 

 daughter of the mare, — all confirmed halter- pullers. To 

 catch mc, nothing was said about the character of the sub- 

 jects until the time of making the experiments. The young- 

 est mare was led in first, and proved a decidedly good sub- 

 ject, yielding unconditionally in about a minute. They 

 next led in the mother, a twelve-year-old mare, saying, 

 "We have another case we wish tried." But, upon trial, 

 she yielded, if anything, more readily than the first. They 

 laughed and said, " Now let us have the old mare ; if he 

 can stop her from pulling, we will give it up." This revealed 

 the plot, and she was the reserved case upon which they 

 depended to defeat me. Upon trial, however, the old mare 

 proved no more difficult than the others, — in fact, not mak- 

 ing near so good a contest as the first. Almost daily there 

 were horses of this character brought me, man}^ of them ex- 

 tremely bad ; but in no case was there failure. (Details 

 of hitching a colt, and accustoming to stand hitched, are 

 fully given in " Colt Training," and can be referred to un- 

 der that head.) 



In breaking up this habit, no possible chances for de- 

 feat should be taken. First, the cord must be so light and 

 pliable as not to be noticeably felt around the body, yet 

 so strong that it cannot be broken by the most desperate 

 lunging. If heavy and clumsy, it woidd teach to descrim- 

 inate between being off* or on. Secondly, the manger, post, 



