34 THE COLT. 



striking the quarters or legs without fear, etc. Doing this 

 thoroughly and well, is the first true step of success ; this 

 accomplished, you are ready to go on with the training, 

 but not before. This is the defective, weak point, that 

 seems so difficult to do ; the failure of which has been, 

 and is, the great stumbling-block of difficulty to trainers 

 and horsemen. They cannot see or understand why a 

 horse, after months, perhaps years, of good character, 

 should, without warning, at some trifling cause of derange- 

 ment in the harness or wagon, cause the most violent fear 

 and resistance, which he will not afterward forget. These 

 are the complaints repeated many times daily to me, by 

 good-thinking farmers and self-styled horsemen, who, of 

 course, in their own estimation, know all about a horse. A 

 horse reasons only from the impressions of experience ; and 

 this is his weak point, and the key of managing him suc- 

 cessfully. The farmer knows his cow will not submit to be 

 milked but on the right side ; she may have been milked 

 for years successfully, yet to attempt some morning to 

 milk her on the other side, would be almost sure to excite 

 her to kick and run away ; she was broken or trained to 

 be milked only on one side, and remains unbroken so far 

 as the other side goes. 



The principle is precisely the same with horses in rea- 

 soning ; consequently, making one part of the body gentle, 

 does not, by any means, in a horse of spirit and sensibility, 

 make the opposite part so. Now, the forward part of the 

 body, from necessity, is accustomed to be handled, but 

 seldom the hind quarters ; and unless the sensibility and 

 fear of the hind parts and flanks are thoroughly overcome, 

 to do which properly at the start is indispensable, there 

 is sure to be trouble and danger of accident from any of 

 these common causes of derangement, exciting the fear, 

 which is liable to occur at any time in their use. It 

 is not always possible to guard against the breeching- 

 strap or something else breaking or giving out, that would 

 cause the shafts to come against the quarters ; and the 

 horse, not understanding what it means, is in consequence 

 frightened, and the result is an unavoidable accident, 

 perhaps serious loss. All this I accomplish in the most 

 thorough manner, by treatment that makes the most 



