66 BREAKING. 
crupper and straps remaining still attached. A linen rubber 
may also then be tied on either side of the saddle. When 
this ceases to attract the attention of the colt, and he is in 
other respects quiet, he may be ridden; the boy being first 
placed across him a few times in the stable, when by coaxing 
and gentle handling the colt will soon become used to the 
burden, and the boy may sit erect. So much gained, and it 
requires but patience to achieve it, the colt should be lounged 
after being led at a walking pace for a short time, and when 
sufficiently quiet, which will be in the course of a few days, 
may be turned loose. 
Different methods are preferred by different trainers. Some 
would mount him in the open air for the first time. In this 
case, great care should be taken not to frighten him. He 
should be held by a short rein, which gives greater command 
over him when he plunges, that he may be stopped at once; 
for if he get his head in front of you, nothing will control 
him, and in breaking loose the shock to the nervous system 
would be so great that he probably would not recover for 
weeks. Gentleness and time are two most essential ad- 
juncts in breaking the colt ; for if departed from, and he be 
hurried in his work or abused in irritable hands, immediately 
the progress you are seeking to make becomes a retrograde 
course. 
I have seen a plan of breaking yearlings, which to my 
mind cannot be too strongly condemned. It is to drive them 
before you ; for what purpose I am at a loss to conceive, and 
not being curious enough to ask, remain in ignorance. It 
requires no conjurer to tell us, that, if half a dozen men 
cannot hold a horse that is bent on escape when close to 
him, if his head is straight before them, no one man can, at 
the length of the cavesson-rein, prevent his getting loose 
