302 Western Live-stock Management 



The entire work of gentling must be conducted with but 

 one aim, to win the confidence of the horse, for no wild 

 horse will be gentle until he is confident that the men will 

 treat him kindly. Horses act largely from force of habit. 

 After doing a thing a few'times, they keep on whether there 

 is a reason for it or not. A horse has a good memory, but 

 very little real intelligence. He has much mettle and 

 energy, with a high-strung nervous system, but very 

 little reasoning power. All of these characteristics must 

 be borne in mind when gentling a horse. Great care 

 must be taken to see that all ropes, halters, harness, and 

 the like are strong, so there is absolutely no danger of 

 breaking. 



BREAKING TO TIE 



Before tying the colt, one should see that the halter is 

 especially strong. No ordinary halter is strong enough 

 to hold a healthy colt of two years. A very heavy halter 

 made for the purpose should be procured. It is usually 

 better to take a thtee-quarters-inch rope, pass it through 

 the ring of the halter, and tie it around the neck with a 

 bowline knot. Even if the halter is strong enough to 

 hold the colt, it is not safe to tie and leave him, for he may 

 pull hard enough to kink his neck or bruise his head. 

 There are various ways of tying colts and halter-pullers. 

 One of the most satisfactory methods is to take a three- 

 fourths-inch rope, run it through the halter, and tie it with 

 a running knot around the body. Therefore, when the 

 colt pulls back, instead of pulling against the halter, the 

 rope tightens and squeezes him around the abdomen and 

 the result is that he will come up to the snubbing pole or 

 manger. (See Plate XIH.) It is very often practical to 

 force the colt to pull back once or twice against this and 



