^33 



instead of the bit until told by his groom the next 

 morning. On being twitted by his friend on his 

 nocturnal adventure, he jocularly replied that *' A 

 horse that was so li^ht in the mouth as to require 

 to be driven with the reins in the hame terrets was 

 a perfect humbug ! " 



HOW TO IMPROVE THE COLT'S ACTION. 



The action of a carriage horse must be high to 

 lend style to his appearance, yet not so high as to 

 impede his progress in getting over the ground, 

 because when a carriage horse has high brilHant knee 

 action, like the lifting of a stepping Hackney, his 

 owner had better take good care always to start in 

 deceiit time to catch a train ! The breaker should not 

 strive to raise the colt's action so much as he should 

 try to bring it forivard. He must endeavour to 

 train him, while lifting to a fairly good height, to 

 strike well forward at the same time, and he will 

 thus combine both style and speed. The best 

 method of accomplishing this is to drive the colt 

 with a Liverpool bit (probably the best all-round 

 harness bit in use), with the reins in the middle 

 bar, or if he has a strong, hard mouth, in the lower 

 bar, and he should be driven over rough, uneven 

 ground. An ordinary ploughed field after a turn 

 of the harrows is very suitable, if it is free from 

 deep furrows. Deep furrows may break the springs 

 of the trap and at the same time frighten the colt. 

 Single harness is better than double for improving 



