308 Western Live-stock Management 
out of sight of the barns and other horses. In fact, he 
should be out of sight and hearing of other horses all the 
time while breaking. There will now be very little diffi- 
culty, and one will find that he can ride the horse around 
almost any way desired. He should be ridden only a short 
distance the first time, and one should not be fooled be- 
cause he rides like an old horse. It is likely that there will 
be a struggle before many times, but the colt will be used 
to the rider then and can be handled all right, although 
one may have to spur him rather hard and he may jump 
around and try to buck a little. There are many men in 
the West who would call this a cowardly way of breaking 
horses, but we are discussing matters from the.standpoint 
of the good of the horse. The professional wild horse- 
men use the method outlined when they want a reliable 
saddle horse. They call it “breaking them gentle.” 
The practice of roping a horse, saddling him up, and riding 
him off is not breaking; it is simply riding without break- 
ing. A horse so handled rarely becomes tame enough 
so that he can be ridden by an ordinary man. After the 
colt is accustomed to general handling and to riding, is 
the time to start in with the training. If he is to be used 
as a cattle horse, the proper procedure is to start him to 
work with the cattle. If he is to be trained at special 
gaits, he should be first taught to walk and walk fast; 
then he should be taught to trot and later taught the 
canter, which is a restrained gallop. 
SPECIAL DEVICES FOR BREAKING 
Famous horse trainers who have made a reputation 
for handling the most vicious horses use some special 
methods for gaining mastery of the horse. These are 
