EVERY MAN HIS OWN TRAINER. 



49 



muscle and loosing their temper if the colt does not go just 

 as he wants him to or makes a break, which is many times 

 caused by the driver not watching his colt or horse, as you 

 will often see drivers wanting to drive a whole field of horses 

 when in fact he has all he can do to drive his own. I have 

 often seen the driver take a peek up in the Grand Stand to 

 see if his fair one is looking at him, consequently loosing con- 

 trol of his horse and he makes a break, for which he gets a 

 cut with the whip and many times a jerk of the reins, nearly 

 enough to break his neck. I have often seen a heat lost in 

 this way when it was charged up to the horse, but the fault 

 was wholly in the driver. I give all of these details so that 

 you will be guarded against committing such grave errors of 

 judgment under all circumstances. 



As you progress with your colt watch him carefully, and 

 if you see he is getting a little off, let up on him as hereto- 

 fore advised. Change your mode of handling a little, jog 

 him on the road for a fev/ days or lead him behind a cart, 

 keeping the bit out of his mouth and the harness off ; turn 

 him in a paddock or smallfield. letting him train himself for 

 a week or ten days, and when you take him up again and 

 commence work you will find he has improved more than any 

 man could have improved him in the same length of time, 

 even with careful training or brute force. If your colt gets 

 tired of one kind of feed, change it ; if you have been feed- 

 ing oats, give him soft feed for a few days, perhaps a little 

 corn on the ear or shelled. If it is dry, hot weather 

 and the corn is shelled and hard, soak it for six hours to soften 

 it. If his bowels get loose, a few handfuls of wheat every 

 day would check them, or a few slices of stale bread from 

 your table is soothing and has a tendency to regulate them. 

 Many horses have a natural looseness of the bowels, especially 

 if they go out into a crowd where there is any excitement. 

 If you give medicine to check the bowels it is dangerous, 

 you will also be liable to check his speed several seconds, 

 as I have seen this occur in a number of cases. You will re- 



