248 HORSE PORTRAITURE. 



crease the cost of fixtures so much that in a large stable 

 the amount necessary to equip the horses would be quite 

 onerous. Horses that are nearly of a size can be used in 

 the same harness, without much change. Horses, how- 

 ever, with the same sized heads might not be suited to 

 the same bridle. The angle of the lips might be deeper 

 in the one, and the eyes nearer the poll in the other, thus 

 requiring a change in {he length of the billet that holds 

 the bit. The bit itself should also be adapted to the 

 wants of the horse, and the bearing-rein always of the 

 length thought best. 



PUPIL. In breaking colts, I have found it advisable to 

 accustom them to both blind and open bridles, and have 

 discovered that while one could hardly be harnessed with 

 liis eyes partially blinded, another would go more quicldy 

 Vfhen he could only see ahead. Extremely nervous or 

 timid colts are more easily broken with an open bridle, 

 while those that shy, I find, are less liable to do so with 

 blinders. I have a large, strong, thoroughbred colt, three 

 3 ears old, that I got from an old friend of mine, who had 

 suffered him to grow to that age without his ever having 

 ) i sen in a stable. When I saw him, he was tied up with a 

 ptrong halter ; and as I noticed he did not like the ap- 

 proach of a stranger, I contented myself with admiring his 

 well-knit frame, and a general wiriness of form that deno- 

 ted his breeding and activity. I bargained for half of 

 him, the old gentlemen being determined to retain the oth- 

 er moiety. He brought him to my place when he had fin- 

 ished planting his corn, leading him beside a large mule 

 that had been a playmate of the colt's when both were 

 running out. He had not become much more sociable 

 than when I first saw him, but would trot alongside the 

 mule, showing a gait " that pleased me exceedingly." Hav- 

 ing traveled some thirty miles that day, the conclusion 

 was that he would be a little tired, and would not be so 



