COUNTRY COLT-BKEAKEKS. 315 



assistance of one or two men, the tackling of a colt 

 is by these rough-and-ready practitioners performed 

 in a very unceremonious manner. Having got the 

 halter on his head, to which a long lunging-rein is 

 attached, the stable -door is opened and the colt 

 allowed to run to the end of his tether, with tvv^o 

 or three men holding on to it, ready to pull him 

 up or pull him down, just as it suits their humour. 

 The unfortunate animal is then taken into a field, 

 and lunged round and round until ready to drop 

 from giddiness and exhaustion. This is breaking 

 a colt with a vengeance, but is, notwithstanding, a 

 not unusual modus operandi adopted in rural dis- 

 tricts by the unscientific horse-tamer. 



Allowance must be made for country colt- 

 breakers pursuing this summary method. They 

 derive their means of subsistence from this occu- 

 pation, and their charge for breaking a colt is, all 

 things considered, very moderate, their object, of 

 course, being to take as many pupils as they can 

 possibly manage in a season, which are generally 

 returned as broken within a month or six weeks. 

 In fact, as soon as the colt will carry well and pass 

 objects on the road without alarm, his education is 

 considered complete, and another taken in hand. 

 That the means resorted to for thus quickly sub- 

 duing a colt are dangerous, and often attended 



