THE SULKY CHARACTERISTICS. 121 



good work. This class of disposition make willing, indus- 

 trious workers, and must have a gentle hand and cool 

 head to direct them. Nervous, excitable runaways, horses 

 spoiled perhaps by the wagon striking the heels, or being 

 upset, you must not fail to be very thorough with. Go over 

 your primary treatment several times, if necessary, to 

 make your foundation thorough, so that there is no fear ot 

 the shafts striking the quarters, the rein being put under 

 the tail, &c.; that in hitching or unhitching, you can, with- 

 out exciting any fear or resistance, run the shafts between 

 the legs or against the belly and quarters. After you do 

 it by this course of subjection, you must follow up on the 

 winning plan. Fill your pockets with apples, and win the 

 confidence of the horse completely, by rewarding with an 

 occasional piece or two, but all this time industriously 

 putting your shafts in every way against and around the 

 legs, and drive without breeching. All this should not 

 require over an hour to do in the most thorough manner. 

 Next day, you must, as it were, partially repeat this lesson, 

 until the confidence of the animal is fully restored. It is 

 no feat to drive the average of these colts, no matter how 

 excitable, in twenty to thirty minutes : a little kind treat- 

 ment afterwards completely setting the character. I do it 

 without trouble before my class, almost daily. 



THE SULKY CHARACTERISTICS. 



We have now the opposite extreme, which is equally ex- 

 ceptional. The nervous temper will always work in quickly 

 and smoothly when treated skilfully and kindly ; not so the 

 bull-dog nature. When well stirred into a fight, they are the 

 most disagreeable of all horses to handle ; for they do not 

 seem to be willing to do any thing without coercion. The 

 point here is, if you find the horse sullenly reckless, and you 

 have pushed all you think it is prudent to do, though the 

 horse will seem as bad as ever, stop until he becomes com- 

 pletely cool and over the excitement : go to work now 

 carefully, and the subject will usually work in as easily as 

 any ordinary colt. A horse, for example, that will not back, 

 and will throw himself down, no matter how stubborn he 

 acts, will, when cool, work in without much difficulty. In 

 some rare cases, the horse may warm up to as hard a resist- 



