32 TO GOVERN HOUSES. 



to cut keenly and make a sharp report, which, if 

 handled with dexterity, and rightly applied, accom- 

 panied with a sharp fierce word, will be sufficient to 

 enliven the spirits of any horse. With this whip in 

 your right hand, with the lash pointing backward, 

 enter the stable alone. It is a great disadvantage 

 in training a horse to have any one in the stable 

 with you; you should be entirely alone, so as to 

 have nothing but yourself to attract his attention. 

 If he is wild, you will soon see him on the opposite 

 side of the stable from you ; and now is the time to 

 use a little judgment. I should not want, for myself, 

 more than half or three quarters of an hour to 

 handle any kind of a colt, and have him running 

 about in the stable after me ; though I would 

 advise a new beginner to take more time, and not 

 be in too much of a hurry. If you have but one 

 colt to gentle, and are not particular about the 

 length of time you spend, and have not had any 

 experience in handling colts, I would advise you to 

 take Mr. Power's method at first, till you gentle 

 him, which he says takes from two to six hours. 

 But as I want to accomplish the same, and what is 

 more, teach the horse to lead, in less than one hour, 

 I shall give you a much quicker process of accom- 

 plishing the same end. Accordingly, when you 

 have entered the stable, stand still, and let your 

 horse look at you a minute or two, and as soon as 

 he is settled in one place, approach him slowly, with 



