The Treatment of Foak. 75 



than the foal could endure, and, suddenly pricking up his 

 ears, he dashed after her. I followed hot foot at the full 

 length of the rein, till the pace became so hot that, in danger 

 of being carried off my feet, I was compelled to put the 

 brake on. The first pressure on the rein was the signal for 

 an immediate halt, and the foal braced himself for another 

 tug-of-war. I ignored the challenge, slacked the rein, had 

 the mare brought back and led past the foal's nose, and 

 away in the opposite direction. Immediately the foal fol- 

 lowed, only to stop as before at the first feel of the restrain- 

 ing rein. To cut a long story short, I will only say that 

 after repeating this manoeuvre several times the foal 

 gradually grew more tractable and followed the mare round 

 closely, albeit still looking rather sulky and inclined to 

 resent the leading rein. The moment he appeared to have 

 grasped what was required of him, I stopped the lesson for 

 the day, and have only to add that a very brief session on the 

 same lines the following day completed that branch of his 

 education. My subordinate, while admitting the success of 

 my system, opined that " it wasn't leading foals, but being 

 led by them." I was not concerned to argue about the cor- 

 rect definition of the system, but was content that it should 

 be judged by its efficiency and ease of application. 



I trust I have made plain the advantage of breaking 

 foals to lead when quite young. The benefits will most 

 surely be appreciated when the foal's feet need trimming, 

 or cuts or bruises want dressing. In leading a number of 

 mares and foals to and from the stables to the paddocks each 

 day there is always a risk of foals getting kicked when loose 

 and dodging in and out amongst a string of mares, and 

 approaching another mare in mistake for its own dam; to 

 say nothing of a trick foals have of following another foal 

 into its box instead of following its own dam into hers, or 



