EVERY MAN HIS OWN TRAINER. II 



courages him, and with your lines you help to steady him, 

 keeping him on a trot, and your whip, being in your hand in 

 his sight, helps you to manage him, as the natural instinct of 

 the horse is to be afraid of the whip to a certain extent ; do 

 not use it on him more than a light tap, as it is a bad plan to 

 get them excessively afraid of it. There are exceptions, as in 

 the case of a high spirited, nervous animal, where the whip is 

 not needed, but in most cases colts need something to scare 

 them along, and need a little urging to make them show their 

 natural ability. Great care should be taken to not force the 

 colt beyond his natural speed and strength. Our natural 

 anxiety for improvement is so great that we are apt to ask too 

 much of a youngster, expecting as much speed in one week as 

 we ought to develop in a month. 



You should watch the colt carefully to see that he is not 

 hitting himself, as eight out of every ten when they com- 

 mence to trot will hit the coronet of the hind foot against the 

 front foot, sufficient to make it sore, even before they are 

 shod, and they will be afraid to trot. You should not do 

 much with a colt in the way of developing speed without 

 using on him tips or a light shoe, in either case tip or shoe 

 not to woigh over three or four ounces. Put on as described 

 in the next chapter. With these on you can attach a light 

 toe or scalping boot on the hind foot, which might save you 

 three or four months' let up caused by hitting and frightening 

 the colt. 



With colts that are healthy and strong, you can give 

 them a little short and sharp work every day, and they will 

 improve under it, while ' others will only stand such work 

 every other day, perhaps twice a week will be sufficient for 

 some, and you would see more improvement at the end of 

 . three months than you would if you gave them work every 

 day. 



In all cases of handling colts it requires discretion and 

 ability in the trainer to get the best results, as you may have 

 the best colt every foaled and spoil him by ignorance and 



