152 THE HORSE 



breaker's skill and patience, and are so often 

 returned as spoilt from the hands of the profes- 

 sional. The breaker cannot spend too much time 

 over the education of a nervous horse, and as such 

 subjects are usually of good breeding and quality, 

 the time spent wiU be vrell repaid later on when 

 seUing time comes. 



Food 

 The first pouit to be taken into consideration is 

 the feeding of the colt. Possibly more depends 

 on this, particularly when breaking ponies, than 

 might at first sight be supposed. A colt is not 

 going to be worked, he is merely going to be 

 broken in, and a diet wliich would be quite unfit 

 for him under the first conditions wiU suit him 

 admu'ably during his educational course. Corn 

 should be absolutely withheld, and the diet re- 

 stricted to hay ad lih., or, preferably, grass picked 

 up in a small paddock. The more sluggish the colt 

 is at this time, in reason, the more quickly will he 

 accept the ne^v instruction and adapt himself to 

 new conditions. Therefore it is perfectly legiti- 

 mate, indeed it is of important assistance, to keep 

 the colt in an obese and phlegmatic state by a 

 grass dietary — which must not be confounded 



