68 THE TROTTING- HOUSE OF AMERICA. 



possessed of that buoyancy and elasticity of spirit wUcli a 

 young thing ought to have anyhow, and which are abso- 

 lutely necessary to bear him up under the treatment to 

 which he is now to be subjected. If he is bold and familiar, 

 and a little given to mischief, so much the better ; that is a 

 very different thing from vice, and much to be preferred to 

 flightiness and nervousness. 



Begin with a little walking exercise every day, and from 

 that proceed to moderate work in harness. See that every 

 thing is done to make the colt enter into his work with 

 good pluck, and take care that the jogging is not carried so 

 far as to make it monotonous and disgusting to him. It 

 should not be confined to the course, but he may be driven 

 about the country-roads when they are good ; and the spurts 

 of speed in which he is indulged should be lively but short. 

 By this means he wUl always leave off with a desire to go a 

 little farther, and will dash out with alacrity when he is 

 called upon to go again. The speed will be increased, in 

 nine cases out of ten, by this treatment ; and the gait wiU. be 

 maintained square and open. Speed can neither be created 

 nor preserved by forcing when young. If the colt goes 

 frisking and playing along, he feels well at his jogging, and 

 you may send him a trifle farther in his spurts. But if, on 

 the other hand, he looks duU and jaded, and requires to be 

 urged, save him. It wUl do harm instead of good to keep 

 him at it : for he is in danger of being " overmarked ; " and, 

 if that once takes place in the course of this his first prep- 

 aration, you had better pay forfeit, and give him a long 

 let-up. So, also, if he begins to hitch and hobble in his 

 gait, you must let him up in his work. It is of no use to 

 keep on in hopes that he wiU go square again. The more 

 you keep on, the worse the mischief will be. Study the 

 disposition of the colt. If you cannot understand him, it is 

 not at all likely that he wiU understand you. 



I have seen many very promising three-year-old colts 

 broken in their gaits, and got to paddling, solely by the 



