114 HAI^DBOOK OF THE TURF. 



halters are in scarlet, blue, and other colors. One of the best 

 practical halters is the ordinary leather headstall, with fore- 

 head, throat and nose-bands, on which should be a ring under 

 the chin for attaching a rope, chain or leather strap. 



Halter-Breaking-; Haltering-. The act of accus- 

 toming a colt to the use and discipline of the halter ; one of 

 the first lessons in colt education. 



Halter-Pulling. One of the very worst faults a horse 

 can have, the result of defective and ignorant training. A 

 person is never safe with a horse that has contracted this 

 habit, and it is a habit very hard to overcome. The best 

 method is to take an ordinary halter, having a lead sufficiently 

 long to pass through the halter-ring, then back between the 

 fore legs and under a surcingle, and attach to a strap around 

 the ankle of one hind foot. Be careful that the halter-ring is 

 sufficiently strong to resist the pull. As the colt pulls on the 

 halter it draws both ways — upon the head in front,, and also 

 on the hind foot. The colt will find that by stepping forward 

 the pull upon the hind foot will lessen, and he will rarely 

 make more than two or three attempts to pull back. This 

 treatment should never be attempted when the colt has the 

 harness on, but always when in the stall or when hitched to a 

 post. After this treatment, kindness and gentleness will com- 

 plete the w^ork of reform from this extremely bad fault. 



Hambletonian, Rysdyk*s. Founder of the greatest 

 trotting family the world has ever seen. Foaled May 5, 1849, 

 at Sugar Loaf, Orange County, N. Y. Bred by Wm. M. 

 Rysdyk. By Abdallah, (son of thoroughbred ^Mambrino, by 

 imported JNlessenger, and a trotting mare called Amazonia, 

 pedigree unknown) ; dam, the Charles Kent mare, by imported 

 Bellfounder, a Norfolk trotter; second dam, One-Eye, by 

 Bishop's Hambletonian, a thoroughbred ; third dam, Silvertail, 

 by imported Messenger. lie was a beautiful bay, with both 

 hind feet white, and a small star in forehead. His shoulders 

 and quarters were so massive that his exceptionally round 

 barrel seemed somewhat light. His neck was short and 

 straight, and he had a large, coarse head, though it was bony 

 and expressive. He stood firm and solid, on feet perfect in 

 shape and texture ; and his legs were flat, clean, heavily mus- 

 cled, and free from gumminess or swelling, even when he was 

 old. His rump was rather round, than sloping, and his tail 

 was set low and carried low. He stood 15.1 at the withers, 

 and 15.3 at the rump. His knee was 13|- inches in circumfer- 

 ence, his hock 17|- inches in circumference. From the center 

 of the hip-joint to the point of the hock he measured 



