142 THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 



his arms and carry him, but todav we are not play- 

 ing" :_ we mean business : so. does he. Furiously he 

 shakes his head, and the boy squats, taking a double 

 hold on the rope, for were the colt to break loose 

 now all would be lost. The midget sits back too, and 

 for awhile it is a case of pull-devil-pull-baker, varied 

 by the colt's strenuous tues on the rope. We remain 

 firm, all of us. Gradually the little fellow ceases 

 his efforts to break away, and cautiously the bov 

 p^ets to his feet and moves slowly backward. Instant- 

 ly the fight is on again, but the colt is weakening, 

 and provided he be intelligent and well bred, as are 

 all mv colts, and is not hampered bv distrustfulness 

 on the part of his mother, in another hour or less 

 we are leading him whither we will; but it is de- 

 sirable to lead him for a few minutes daily. Then 

 comes the more critical hour when he must learn to 

 stand tied, first alongside the mare but soon alone. 

 Two or three days should suffice for the learning 

 of this very important lesson, but patience on the 

 part of his teachers must be inexhaustible ; the high- 

 ly developed nervous system of the horse in com- 

 bination with a tenacious memory renders pardon- 

 able the repetition of this trite remark. In a few 

 months we begin to place pieces of harness on him, 

 one at a time. He has been handled so much that 

 no other emotion but intense interest is evoked, even 

 when the breeching is first adjusted. He is then 

 led around until he is thoroughly accustomed to 

 the feel of the harness, and until the dragging of 

 the traces — purposely allowed to drag so that any 

 future disarrangement of these or any other por- 



