WILL NOT BACK. 191 



ceedingly stubborn and difficult to break. Fjrst, in the manage- 

 ment of colts. If a colt is very young, or of a cold-blooded, sullen 

 nature, he will usually sulk and resist the bit when pulled upon to 

 back. With the Breaking Bit, however, it is a very simple matter 

 to do in most any case of this kind. During my early experience, 

 I usually made this point by putting on the War Bridle, first form, 

 and standing at the shoulder, then giving a sharp, quick jerk side- 

 ways and back, and thus repeating until forced to go back a little, 

 then stood in front and pulled back moderately until the point was 

 made. Another method, practiced upon such cases by me with suc- 

 cess, was, to put on a foot-strap and surcingle ; instead of putting 

 the strap over the belly-band, bring it forward, then, after the foot 

 is pulled up, press back gently upon the head, at the same time let- 

 ting the foot go down ; it will be put down about ten inches back of 

 the other; making a short step backward. This is to be repeated 

 until the colt will go back freely. Another excellent method was 

 taking an ordinary jack-knife, or the end- of a stick brought to a dull 

 point, and press gently back inside the shoulder blade, at the same 

 time pressing back upon the head gently; The colt will usually go 

 back to free himself from the pain, when caress arid/ repeat. 



I have used all these methods with success. When I caught the 

 point of training the mouth with the Breaking Bit, I practically 

 abandoned the 'palliative methods, and depended entirely upon them, 

 by training the mouth as described under that head in Colt Training. 

 Extremely bad runaways would sometimes resist the bit in the most 

 desperate manner. It was not unusual for horses of this character 

 to pull from two to three men on a Walk, even against the Breaking 

 Bit, with the recklessness of insanity. Such horses were usually sub- 

 mitted to the restraint of the bit freely until excited, the very point 

 that had to be overcome. Now we managed all these cases by simple, 

 sharp littie jerks, as explained under the head of "Running Away," 

 and repeating. If the horse became warmed up and sullen, which 

 would destroy the sensibility of the mouth, we would stop, and repeat 

 after he became cool, when, of course the sensibility of the mouth 

 would be greatly increased, then repeat until there would be perfect 

 submission. The principle is the same in teaching an extremely bad 

 colt to back. There is quite a sleight in using this bit in these bad 

 cases. It is, when directly behind, with the reins loose enough to 

 come on each side of the quartersnto give such a quick, energetic 

 pull that the horse is brought back before he can concentrate his 

 will to resist. It should be a little series of surprises in this way. 

 Let him stand quietly, and suddenly give a sharp little raking pull, 



