KINDNESS. 41 



pull most desperately. This slow pulling is what is to be 

 avoided; and the habit is established of yielding to the 

 slightest pressure of the halter. It is also a point in show- 

 ing that a colt should not, as is common, be hitched at 

 first in this way. There is a natural tendency in the colt 

 to pull when tied by the head, which this making to yield 

 by the course above described almost wholly overcomes, 

 but is not to be relied upon. 



Hitch the colt for a few times as follows, and he 



Hitching the Colt so that he cannot injure himself, or learn to pull. 



will never learn the habit. Provide yourself with a small 

 rope, not over one-half an inch in diameter, one that 

 cannot be broken, a hemp one is the best, twenty- 

 eight feet long ; double this, and put the end forming a 

 loop under the tail, bring forward over the back, twisting 

 two or three times, and tie both in a double knot, below 

 the neck in front of the shoulders ; now pass the cords 

 forward through the ring in the manger, and back to the 

 ring in the halter back of the jaw. If you wish to be 

 very particular, wind the part of the rope under the tail 

 with a piece of rag to prevent making the tail sore. The 

 moment the colt attempts to pull, he is disconcerted and 

 disabled, and comes ahead, from the pull upon the tail, in 

 surprise. There is pressure upon the head to which he 

 becomes accustomed ; and all inclination to pulling is pre- 

 vented and overcome, and prevents all possibility of being 

 injured. The younger the colt and the colder-blooded, 



