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care to make his mouth as pleasant and tractable as 

 possible, so that at the least indication of the hand 

 he will on all occasions yield a ready acquiescence 

 to the bit. The reins should be placed upon him in 

 the same manner as described in a former chapter 

 in the case of *' mouthing " ladies' horses, so as to 

 produce exactly the same feeling all over his mouth, 

 because if his mouth is permitted to become harder 

 at one side than the other he will never win the 

 distinction of being considered a first-class wheeler. 

 At the same time the rider of such an animal will 

 be very heavily handicapped in the game. He may 

 often fail to score entirely by the imperfection in 

 the *' mouthing " of his mount. 



THE CHIEF SECRET IN TRAINING THE PONY. 



The great secret of success in training the pony 

 is to get him, as it were, to take an interest in his 

 work. The trainer must persuade him by kind treat- 

 ment to fall in love with the sport. He must coax 

 but never coerce him ; he must be firm but never 

 abusive. The pony must not get a lesson of too 

 long duration at one time, nor should he be ridden 

 too violently. Method must always be exercised in 

 his instruction, and whenever he accomplishes any 

 particular part of his training well the rider should 

 never fail to caress him and speak encouragingly to 

 him. After a little the pony acquires the idea that 

 he is pleasing his rider when he is rewarded by 

 caresses and kind words. This will encourage him 



