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him. This is done in order to accustom the horse to bemg- 

 touched, so it will not cringe and become frightened every 

 time he is touched. It assists materially in breaking. Later, 

 when the animal has lost some of his sense of fear, the boy is 

 again brought in and the same operation is gone through. 

 He knows the boy by this time, and the lad may be placed 

 astride of him in the stall, with the groom holding his head 

 all the time. He simply sits there motionless, patting the 

 horse gently, now and then soothingly, and soon the quiver- 

 ing that was at first noticed in the sensitive animal's frame 

 is observed to have vanished. 



This is done from time to time for several days, and for 

 a half hour at a time the boy is kept on his back. When 

 several days have passed a gentle or broken horse is brought 

 out and placed in front on the track. The colt to be 

 broken is led out by the groom with the boy to whom he 

 has become accustomed on his back. For an hour this is 

 kept up, and by this time the horse is no longer afraid of 

 the boy. 



After the second day of this treatment a saddle is put 

 on the horse, not girted too tightly, and the groom should 

 lead him out of the stable to the track. The boy should be 

 placed on his back, and the groom releases his hold on the 

 bridle. Always agenile horse should lead the way, for one 

 horse will follow another much more quickly than he will 

 walk alone. He may be walked a half mile and then trotted 

 another half. Keep this up for some time in order to dispel 

 as far as possible his sense of strangeness or fear. The boy 

 must be taught not to dig his heels into the animal's sides, 

 for this will as a matter of course irritate him. 



By the end of a week he may be cantered over a portion 

 of the track, but the boy should be instructed never to dis- 

 mount without having some one hold the head of the ani- 

 mal. This is a most important matter, for oftentimes a 

 horse becomes frightened in the very beginning by this 

 action and never fully recovers from it. 



During this treatment the horse should be rubbed 

 gently and his feet taken up and picked out. All of this is 

 an education to the colt. A cloth should be used in rubbing 

 him, and it should be as soft as possible. He needs the best 

 of attention at this period. 



