38 MUST OVERCOME HIS FEAR. 



point made, you are ready to take the next step of mak- 

 ing him lead to the halter. This is a point in which the 

 colt will be likely to give you much opposition, resisting 

 every step with great stubbornness ; so you must prepare 

 yourself for some hard work. The main point is to KEEP 

 COOL ; for however stubborn and reckless the animal may 

 act, when he gets over the excitement, and is cool, he will 

 always work in nicely, and, once yielding, gives no oppo- 

 sition afterwards. So the point is simply perseverance, 

 and not pushing too fast ; for the warmer the colt gets, the 

 more stubborn and reckless he will act. 



First put on the war-bridle, which has been shown to 

 you, and is described in another chapter under that head. 

 As it is much easier to make a horse follow sideways than 

 straight ahead, for greater ease of working, I would advise 

 making this point first. To do this, use this form : large 

 kind of loop around the neck ; the cord extending through 

 the mouth, back over the part around the neck should be 

 used. It gives great power sideways, but should not be 

 used on the colt any other way. If you pull back too 

 much, and the colt is sensitive, there is danger of being 

 thrown over back. If you pull ahead, it acts directly 

 upon the mouth as a powerful check, and defeats your 

 object. It has been used with great pretension by many 

 as a means of bitting colts. The purchase from the back 

 of the neck to the jaw is too short : it is liable to injure 

 the mouth, and must be used with great care, if at all, for 

 this purpose. It is, on the whole, bad treatment, and very 

 objectionable in the hands of a rough, thoughtless man. 

 Stand opposite the shoulder, about five or six feet away, 

 and give a sharp, quick jerk toward you, and instantly 

 slacken up, and repeat, at slow intervals, always slacking 

 instantly after each pull. A quick, nervous, well-bred colt 

 would yield very quickly to this, coming to you and follow- 

 ing freely after a few pulls ; but those of small, round 

 eyes, heavy eye-lids, long, heavy ears, are liable to be 

 fearfully stubborn. When warmed up, they will always, 

 if possible, pull into a corner, run into a stall, and try to 

 do almost any thing but yield the point. When thoroughly 

 warmed up, they will either stand with ears lopped, legs 

 spread, and head down, or lunge recklessly away. If the 



