34 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
habit of carrying the head low, cannot fail of proving injurious. A 
horse should be well accustomed to the bit before you put on the bitting 
harness, and when you first bit him you should only rein his head up 
to that point where he naturally holds it, let that be high or low; he 
will soon learn that he cannot lower his head, and that raising it a little 
will loosen the bit in his mouth. This will give him the idea of rais- 
ing his head to loosen the bit, and then you can draw the bitting a 
little tighter every time you put it on, and he will still raise his head to 
loosen it. By this means you will gradually get his head and neck in 
the position you wish him to carry it, and give him a graceful carriage 
without hurting him, making him angry, or causing his mouth to get 
sore. 
Putting Oil tllC Harness. — The first requisite is a harness that will fit, 
and a little attention to this will facilitate matters very much. The collar 
needs special care, as hundreds of horses have been spoiled by those 
the chief features of which were defects. Take the harness into the 
stable, and go through the same process as with the saddle, letting the 
colt examine it as much as he desires ; then put it on with care. When 
the operation is completed, put on the lines, using them gently, as the 
touch, if he is skittish, will startle him. Lead him back and forth until 
the fitting of the harness causes no disquietude, then take hold of the 
end of the traces, pulling slightly at first, and finally hitch him to what- 
ever you wish him to pull. 
To Hitch up the Colt. — As the colt has never paid any particular at- 
tention to a buggy or carriage, and docs not know its uses, great caution 
must be observed on his introduction. Lead him gently to it; let him 
examine it in his own way — by sight, smell, and the exercise of the 
sense of feeling — and lead him all around it. Presently he will cease 
to notice it. Now draw' the shafts to the left, and place him before the 
buggy. One man stands at his head. The other, at his right side, 
gently lifts the shafts, keeping one hand the while upon the colt’s back, 
and drops the shafts on either side. They must not touch him as they 
are brought down. It is a nice job, and must be performed very de- 
liberately. When you once have him between the shafts, shake them, 
so that he may not only hear but feel them against him. At first he is 
a little touchy. When he no longer minds them, you can fasten him 
up; and while the man at his head slowly leads him along, you work 
behind, get the lines over his back (which must be carefully done), and 
get in. Then you must not let him go faster than a walk. This Mr. 
Rarey insists upon, saying that the horse cannot at first comprehend the 
multifarious arrangements to which he is hitched, and if hurried is con- 
fused. If the horse is very wild, or attempts to kick, Mr. Rarey ties up 
one foot as seen in our illustration (fig. 1). 
We have thus gone through the mode of training an unbroken colt 
to the saddle and harness, and to perfect docility, and shall now briefly 
treat of some other matters pertinent to the subject under consideration. 
Blinkers Oil Horses. — Though not directly connected with the process 
of horse-taming, we cannot refrain from giving the opinions of Mr. 
Rarey upon the use of “ blinkers.” These we have long considered not 
only a useless appendage to the harness, but, in a greater or less degree, 
