KICKING IN HARNESS. 65 



rangement, and a naturally gentle driving colt is taken una- 

 wares, the result of which is, he is frightened, and kicks. 

 The heels coming in contact with the shafts or whiffletree 

 increases this fear : the result of it all is, the horse is ex- 

 citable and dangerous in that position, possibly so con- 

 firmed in kicking as to make him entirely unsafe after- 

 wards in harness. 



I wish to call your special attention to these facts and 

 from them shape your plans of treatment. You notice, in 

 the first place, that I base my success on the breaking and 

 driving of colts so successfully to my getting at the very 

 root of this trouble at the commencement ; that my very 

 first step with the colt is to overcome all this possible 

 fear of being touched, or of any tiling striking or coming 

 against the quarters. If a colt has learned to kick in 

 harness, I aim to overcome the fear and inclination of 

 the horse to kick, by a counteracting impression upon the 

 mind, and the whole difficulty becomes simple and easy to 

 control. If a horse is confirmed in the habit, as before, I 

 aim, as the true condition of my success, to remove the 

 cause by counteracting the habit as strongly as I can, the 

 whole point being, after the horse is once checked and 

 the habit is under control, that every step is made secure, 

 in preventing a repetition of it, until the horse will not, 

 and, even under great aggravation, cannot be excited to 

 kick. Now the intensity of the habit or not, and the 

 temperament of the horse, must determine the treatment, 

 and how much to do. It is certain any thing short of 

 being thorough is liable to result in failure ; hence, if you 

 cannot by simple means check and overcome the habit, 

 to be safe, then go back to indirect means, holding and 

 forcing obedience. The colder or more sulky the nature, 

 in some cases, the more your success must depend upon 

 the reacting sensibility of the nervous system. 



In breaking the colt, all that is necessary to do is to 

 overcome the impression of fear, and all inclination to 

 kick is at once removed. In colts of an ordinary good 

 character we can do this easily by the control of the 

 double draw-hitch and touching a pole against the quar- 

 ters. If wild, strong and bad, this would not be sufficient. 

 The second course of subjection will enable easy control, 



