TO HITCH A COLT. 41 



minute, after men had worked at them half an hour, 

 trying to pull them in. If you cannot walk him in 

 at once in this way, turn him about and walk him 

 around in every direction, until you can get him up 

 to the door without pulling at him. Then let him 

 stand a few minutes, keeping his head in the right 

 direction with the halter, and he will walk in in less 

 than ten minutes. Never attempt to pull the colt 

 into the stable ; that would make him think at once 

 that it was a dangerous place, and if he was not afraid 

 of it before he would be then. Besides, we do not want 

 him to know anything about pulling on the halter. 

 Colts are often hurt, and sometimes killed, by trying 

 to force them into the stable ; and those who attempt 

 to do it in that way go into an up-hill business, when 

 a plain smooth road is before them. 



If you want to hitch your colt, put him in a 

 tolerably wide stall, which should not be too long, 

 and should be connected by a bar or something of 

 that kind to the partition behind it ; so that, after 

 the colt is in, he cannot get far enough back to take 

 a . straight, backward pull on the halter ; then, by 

 hitching him in the centre of the stall, it would be 

 impossible for him to pull on the halter, the partition 

 behind preventing him from going back, and the 

 halter in the centre checking him every time he 

 turns to the right or left. In a stall of this kind 

 you can break any horse to stand hitched by a 

 light strap, anywhere, without his ever knowing 



