ON THE ROAD. 79 



CHAPTER VI. 

 ON THE ROAD. 



We make no suggestions here in regard to training an unbroken 

 colt to harness or saddle, further than to remark that the work of edu- 

 cation should begin with the foal before it is a month old. To let 

 a youngster run wild at its own sweet will until it has attained 

 nearly full growth and strength, and then attempt to " break" it by 

 sheer brute force, is not the best way to obtain a kindly, well-trained 

 horse. But the details of training up a foal in the way it should go 

 are outside the scope of this work. The family horse is presumed to 

 have been sufficiently well advanced to go quietly in harness or under 

 saddle. True, the standard of equine education is not very high in 

 this country, and as Herbert remarks, " If a horse will carry its rider 

 without throwing him over its head, or draw him in his wagon or 

 buggy without kicking it to shivers ; if it will go off at a walk, xi- 

 crease its speed to the top of his gait, and stop again when pulled 

 upon, without running away ; if it will hold back going down hill, 

 and will not balk going up hiU ; and more particularly, if it will stand 

 at a door without tying, it is held to be fully broken." A horse 

 which comes up even to that standard, though it is far from being 

 " nothing more than a living and spirited automaton in the hands 

 of its rider or driver,'' does very well for the practical purposes or a 

 family horse. If treated, as every horse should be, with perfect kind- 

 ness and patience, yet with inflexible firmness to insure obedience, 

 such a horse will soon learn to understand the wishes of its driver 

 by the very tones of his voice, or the touch of his hand upon the 

 reins. 



It is essential that every part of the harness shall fit the horse 

 so that there shall be no chafing or imdue pressure in any part. 

 For a horse to go with a coUar so loose as to chafe or so tight as to 

 pinch, the girths compressing its chest too closely, the breeching 

 interfering with free action of its hind legs, or the crupper galling 

 it under the tail, is like a man's trying to run a foot-race with gravel 

 in his shoes. In harnessing the horse, it should first be led out of 

 its stall, the collar — ^if one is worn — turned upside down and slipped 

 over the horse's head. Then the harness is laid quietly on him, not 

 thrown forcibly. The hames are adjusted to their place on the 



