CHAPTEB III. 



TRAINING FOE DRAUGHT. 



THERE are in most countries a great number of men to 

 be found perfectly competent to train any, even the 

 most difficult, horses for draught, but their services are 

 seldom available for those who live far away from the 

 great centres of population, and who are constantly 

 obliged to undertake the task themselves, or entrust 

 it to persons who are more or less incompetent. It is 

 to this class, and not to professional coachmen, that we 

 address the following remarks, which do not pretend to 

 being more than hints for avoiding some of the mistakes 

 that so constantly lead to more or less serious accidents, 

 and by which horses are spoiled, not to speak of the 

 danger to human life. 



The greatest and most frequent mistake is the under- 

 taking too much at a time with young horses. All of 

 a sudden we not only put a lot of harness on our horse, 

 then a bridle and bit of a kind to which he is not 

 accustomed on his head and into his mouth, but also 

 expect him to draw quietly in a vehicle that he has 

 perhaps never seen before. This is all too much at 

 once, and although many horses submit patiently, many 

 others resist, become frightened or infuriated and smash 

 everything, the end being that the animal may be 

 spoiled for draught for ever. 



