110 



'' Dealers generally put long-cheeked bits on their horses when they 

 show them off, as these force them to bend themselves more than 

 light easy bits. They should always be made of steel, and it looks 

 best to have both the reins and headstall stitched on to the bit, and 

 not fastened with buckles." 



BREAKING HOESES. 



A colt, when it is intended to house him, should be gradually 

 brought off grass by shutting him up nightly, but turning out 

 during the day, and by gradually reducing the hours he is allowed 

 to spend out of doors. In taking him from his box to his paddock 

 every day put a snaffle bit into his mouth, when he is permanently 

 located in his stable bit him for an hour a day. Handling is the chief 

 thing to be observed in breaking, as horses are nearly always amen- 

 able to kind and gentle treatment, but generally prove refractory if 

 suddenly bitted and lunged. Corn should be allowed sparingly at 

 first, half a feed twice a day, and this gradually increased in two 

 months to three feeds a day with sufficient hay and six or seven 

 moderate sized carrots. 



CLIPPING REFRACTORY HORSES. 



No. 1. — ^Let the refractory animal be turned in his stall, and attach 

 the pillar reins to his head collar, so that he cannot turn round. Then 

 either clip or singe another horse before him. 



No. 2. — Tie up the foreleg of the horse, it will keep him quiet 

 whilst being clipped. Put a surcingle round him, and run a leather 

 strap attached to the fetlock through the surcingle ; let a groom 

 hold the strap so that if the horse ivill plunge he can slack it, and 

 thus save a fall. 



No. 3. — Take an ordinary corn sack, and cut a small hole in one 

 corner ; put the halter rope through the mouth of the sack and the 

 said hole, then coax the sack over the horse's head and ears, and tie 

 a string round his neck to keep all fast. This will make any horse 

 quite cowed and stupid, and he will not resist anything that gives 

 no actual pain. 



No. 4. — Always begin to clip the horse on the ribs (near side), as 

 being the least sensitive part, and gradually work to the most tick- 

 lish parts, such as the flanks and inside the thighs. If the horse 

 prove troublesome, take up the near fore leg, bring the heel of the 

 foot up close to the arm with the right hand, and steady the horse's 

 head with the left hand. Should this plan not prove successful 

 have recourse to the twitch, which place on the upper lip of the 



