40 HUMANE HORSE-TRAINING 



and this affectionate behaviour was a certain proof. 

 Gradually he went down on both knees, sweating freely. 

 Then with a great thud he threw himself on the ground. 

 This took place in the loose-box on a thick bed of straw. 

 He laid down for quite half an hour and allowed me 

 to caress him and sit on his back. When he got up I 

 handled him all over, and he was perfectly quiet and 

 offered no resistance at all. 



Having gained the colt's confidence and taught him 

 to follow, we now proceed to give him a mouth, so he 

 is bridled for the first time. This can be done easily 

 after he has had the confidence lesson, but every care 

 should be taken in order to avoid frightening him. 

 The bridle is comfortably fitted and a kind, easy bit 

 properly fixed in the mouth. The object of correct 

 mouthing is to preserve instead of diminishing the 

 natural sensitiveness of the bars of the animal's mouth. 

 For this reason I recommend a humane bit. Cruel, big, 

 ugly jaw-breaking bits are unsuitable, and produce deep 

 sores and bruises, rendering this portion of the animal's 

 training unnecessarily painful and also " spoiling " its 

 mouth instead of " making" it. I am strongly opposed 

 to the use of fixed or " hard-and-fast " reins to connect 

 the bit to the surcingle ; also the bad habit of placing 

 a colt on " pillar " reins. I have known of capped 



