THE WEANLING COLT. 27 



and it isn't a bad idea to turn a colt put in a pad- 

 dock for a half an hour with it on." 



Joseph L. Serrill writes : "I think Jpoking after 

 the colt's teeth a very important thing. If a colt 

 fights the bit much, look at his mouth, and you will 

 probably find a sharp tooth has cut his cheek, 

 which is very sore." 



Ground Breaking. 



The colt is now ready to be gfound-broken, that 

 is, broken to harness. Get a harness that will fit it 

 properly and put it on carefully and slowly. Let 

 the colt stand in the stable with the harness on a 

 short time each day till accustomed to it. Then 

 the colt should be driven in the barn. Have two 

 men at first, one to lead the colt, the other to hold 

 the reins. One horseman objects to the preceding 

 sentence. "Don't have two men to handle a poor 

 little colt. A fifteen-year-old boy can give a colt 

 its first lessons, or one man can, if he is fearless 

 and not too heavy in the arms and doesn't make a 

 sled of his feet." Teach the purpose of reins, that 

 is, to turn in either direction,, or to back. It is im,- 

 portant to teach the colt the command "whoa," 

 and to stand still, especially when tied to a hitch- 

 ing post. Be careful in harnessing not to check 

 your colt too high. Many colts are unbalanced 

 by checking too high. 



Ned McCarr describes his method of ground- 

 breaking: "After our colts are broken to lead, a 

 harness is applied. Care is taken to see that it 



