322 BREAKING IN. 



times very perverse. Many days will occasionally pass before they will permit 

 the bridle to be put on, or the saddle to be worn ; and one act of harshness 

 will double or treble this time : patience and kindness, however, will always 

 prevail. On some morning, when he is in a better humour than usual, the 

 bridle may be put on, and the saddle may be worn; and, this compliance 

 being followed by kindness and soothing on the part of the breaker, and no 

 inconvenience or pain being suffered by the animal, all resistance will be at an 

 end. 



The same principles will apply to the breaking-in of the horse for the road 

 or the chase. The handling, and some portion of instruction, should commence 

 from the time of weaning. The future tractability of the horse will much 

 depend on this. At two years and a half, or three years, the regular process of 

 breaking-in should commence. If it is delayed until the animal is four years 

 old, his strength and obstinacy will be more difficult to overcome. The plan 

 usually pursued by the breaker cannot perhaps be much improved, except that 

 there should be much more kindness and patience, and far less harshness and 

 cruelty, than these persons are accustomed to exhibit, and a great deal more 

 attention to the form and natural action of the horse. A headstall is put on 

 the colt, and a cavesson (or apparatus to confine and pinch the nose) affixed to 

 it, with long reins. He is first accustomed to the rein, then led round a ring on 

 soft ground, and at length mounted and taught his paces. Next to preserving 

 the temper and docility of the horse, there is nothing of so much importance as 

 to teach him every pace, and every part of his duty, distinctly and 

 thoroughly. Each must constitute a separate and sometimes long-continued 

 lesson, and that taught by a man who will never suffer his passion to get the 

 better of his discretion. 



After the cavesson has been attached to the headstall, and the long rein put 

 on, the colt should be quietly led about by the breaker — a steady boy following 

 behind, by occasional threatening with the whip, but never by an actual blow, 

 to keep him moving. When the animal follows readily and quietly, he may 

 le taken to the ring, and walked round, right and left, in a very small circle. 

 Care should be taken to teach him this pace thoroughly, never suffering him to 

 break into a trot. The boy with his whip may here again be necessary, but not 

 a single blow should actually fall. 



Becoming tolerably perfect in the walk, he should be quickened to a trot, and 

 kept steadily at it ; the whip of the boy, if needful, urging him on, and the 

 cavesson restraining him. These lessons should be short. The pace should be 

 kept perfect, and distinct in each ; and docility and improvement rewarded 

 with frequent caresses, and handfuls of corn. The length of the rein may now 

 be gradually increased, and the pace quickened, and the time extended, until the 

 animal becomes tractable in. these his first lessons, towards the conclusion of 

 which, crupper- straps, or something similar, may be attached to the clothing. 

 These, playing about the sides and flanks, accustom him to the flapping of the 

 coat of the rider. The annoyance which they occasion will pass over in a day 

 or two ; for when the animal finds that no harm comes to him, he will cease to 

 regard them. 



Next comes the bitting. The bit should be large and smooth, and the reins 

 buckled to a ring on either side of the pad. There are many curious and 

 expensive machines for this purpose, but the simple rein will be quite sufficient. 

 It should at first be slack, and then very gradually tightened. This will prepare 

 for the more perfect manner in which the head will be afterwards got into its 

 proper position, when the colt is accustomed to the saddle. Occasionally the 

 breaker should stand in front of the colt, and take hold of each side rein near 

 to the mouth, and press upon it, and thus begin to teach him to stop and to 



