372 
AMERICAN AGrRICTJLTURIST. 
[October 
has an important bearing on some of our farm 
practices, but I think we need not hesitate to plow 
land in the fall and otherwise prepare it for spring 
sowing. 1 fee) sure that it would have been five 
hundred dollars in my pocket if I had plowed all 
my land last fall that I was going to sow to barley 
in the spring. I did plow some of it, and there I 
had a capital crop. But on two other fields, that 
were not plowed until spring, the barley was seri¬ 
ously injured by the Hessian fly. If it had been 
sown a week or ten days earlier, I should have had 
a good crop—and this year good barley will bring 
a very high price. And so I feel quite sure that I 
am safe in advising farmers generally to plow and 
keep plowing during our splendid autumn weather. 
“ Many fanners,” said the Deacon, “are talking 
of abandoning barley. This is the first time the 
Hessian fly has seriously injured it in this section.” 
“ True,” said I, “ but so far as I have observed 
it was the poor, late sown crops that were injured, 
and this fact furnishes another argument in favor 
of fall plowing and good farming. We should 
either give up trying to raise barley, or make up 
our rninds to drain our land, work it properly, and 
make it richer. Barley must have a .good, drv 
warm, mellow 6oil. And 
then we should sow ear¬ 
ly and drill in some good 
artificial manure with the 
seed. Taking one year 
with another, commercial 
fertilizers will pay better 
on barley than on any 
other ordinary farm crop, 
and now is the time to get 
the land ready for the crop. 
Many crops this year 
were hardly worth thrash¬ 
ing. Occasionally a good 
field gave 50 bushels per 
acre, and just think what 
a difference this makes in 
the profit. Figure it out 
for yourself. Good cul¬ 
tivation does not alone 
make the difference. But 
without good tillage, we 
certainly can not have 
a good crop of barley.” 
“You would not plow 
sod-land for barley in the 
fall,” said the Deacon.— 
“Perhaps not,” said I, 
“ but I would plow all the 
stubble land ; we usually 
sow barley after corn, potatoes, corn-fodder, beans, 
roots, etc. If need be, I plow between the stooks 
of corn before they are husked. We finish the 
plowing after the crop is husked and the fodder 
drawn in. The Deacon objects to it because it 
makes too inanv dead furrows, but these can be 
plowed back again in the spring, and by cultivating 
across the lands the field is made level if desired.” 
Breaking and Training Colts. 
BT E. N. JENNINGS. 
The word “breaking” appears in the heading, 
but it shall be used no further in this connection. 
Breaking is a brutal word and a brutal practice, 
and an unnecessary one. Gentling is a much bet¬ 
ter term, and describes the only proper practice. 
The trainer should be on friendly terms with the 
young animal so soon as he is approachable, and 
the training should begin when it is a month 
old. On first going near the colt, do it quietly and 
gently; don't frighten him, but be deliberate in 
voice, touch, and motion. Make every movement 
on this first acquaintance very cautiously, not to 
excite his fears Gain his confidence now, and you 
will keep it, unle m abused afterwards ; having his 
confidence, you qan do about as you will with the 
child-horse. The first motion should be to extend 
the hand in front of, and as near as may be without 
frightening him. Then gradually dre w nearer, carry. 
ing neither whip nor stick. Let him first smell your 
hand, before touching any part of him. The trainer 
should govern his actions by those of the eolt. H he 
is inclined to kick, be very careful, and do not let him 
jump upon or strike you with his fore-feet. A colt, 
in common with most domestic animals, seems to 
judge of a would-be-acquaintance or friend by both 
sight and smell, and fears that which he can not see. 
The best place to first touch him is on the face. 
This being permitted, gently caress and fondle him 
for a few moments, and the first lesson is learned. 
Haltering; and Leading. 
When first approaching to tie him, carry the hal¬ 
ter on the left shoulder rather than in the hand, so 
that both hands and arms may be entirely free. 
Advance to his near side, as the more convenient, 
for he is thus less liable to kick. Caress him, and 
when he becomes calm, let the halter slide down 
quietly into the left hand. Then very gently, but 
quickly and surely, slip it over his nose, and with 
the right hand draw it over his head and fasten it 
in position. It is important that this first attempt 
to halter be successful, as otherwise it will after¬ 
wards be very difficult to do at all. Having escaped 
once, more or less frightened, he will shun a 
second effort to put him in leading strings. 
During the first effort to lead a colt (and many 
horses always), do not look at him, but turn and 
walk away deliberately, giving a gentle hint with 
the halter that you would have him follow. If 
he undertakes to pull at the halter, do not oppose, 
but ease up as he pulls. “ Play him,” as a skillful 
angler does a trout. If you look in his face, or pull 
strongly at the halter, he will not start. Halt the 
colt frequently, at first, and pat him; if he does 
right, be sure to let him know it. A colt appreci¬ 
ates praise, as well as a human being. “ Pats are 
better than taps.” If disobedient, don’t punish him 
or pat him, but let him know what praise means. 
After the colt is halter-broken let him grow, 
handling and haltering him frequently. Experience 
proves that a month old is not too young to com¬ 
mence training. At a year old a light harness may 
be put on, omitting the bridle, or at least the bit, 
until a year later. There should be no loose straps 
dangling at the harness first worn, though after¬ 
wards allowed that he may get used to them. 
Bridling and Bitting. 
At two years old, the colt that is well broken to 
the halter, and will permit easy handling, may be 
bridled and bitted. If he has not been trained to 
the halter until near this age, a week or ten days 
of thorough work with the halter, and in leading 
him by it, is necessary before bitting. The illus¬ 
tration, figure 1, represents an easy and convenient 
means of getting the animal accustomed to the bit, 
and of toughening the mouth. The apparatus con. 
sists of a simple bridle with an ordinary mouthing 
bit (a snaffle), with reins attached, as shown. On 
the crupper-strap is a spiral spring in a sheet-iron 
tube. Through an eye at the rear end of the spring 
is passed what corresponds to the check-rein. The 
lower reins, attached to the girth, prevent raising 
the head too high; the spring eases the pressure 
from the upper rein on the mouth, and the colt 
does the toughening himself by working his head 
up and down. He is hacked into a.stall, and tied 
to “pillar reins” made fast to the posts, as shown 
in figure 2. This keeps his head straight, yet he is 
not uncomfortable, and the whole arrangement 
makes him acquainted with the bit, and he 
learns to respect it. Teach him thus for an hour 
or so daily, taking care not to tire him, gradually 
lengthening the time to two or three hours. Each 
day after this exercise the colt should be taught to 
hack—gently, as it is hard for him to understand 
what is wanted, and backing is, indeed, about the 
most difficult thing to teach the young horse. 
Thorough bitting, before harnessing, is desirable, 
and indeed essential to proper training, but ten days 
or so of this practice will usually fit the colt for 
The First Lesson in Driving-. 
The young horse should be driven a few times in 
the harness—the trainer 
in front—aud taught to 
turn to the right and loft, 
to rein back, etc., before 
attaching to a wagon ; use 
long reins, and possibly 
an assistant may be use¬ 
ful to show him what the 
reining means. Always 
use a light vehicle at first, 
as many horses are made 
baulky by hitching to a 
heavy wagon at this 
time. A “ kicking-strap ’ ’ 
should be fastened over 
his rump from one shaft 
to another to prevent his 
heels hitting the wagon. 
If a colt hits nothing when 
he kicks, he will soon 
stop kicking. In start¬ 
ing off, some one should 
lead the colt a few hun¬ 
dred yards, to encourage 
him, and he should be pat¬ 
ted when let go. When 
training, remember that 
“ a light hand makes a 
light mouth, and a pleas¬ 
ant driving-horse.” The 
well known important rule of practice, to start a 
horse by word of mouth, rather than by a touch of 
the whip, applies especially to the training period. 
Saddling 
should not generally be attempted until the colt is 
three years old, though it is sometimes done with¬ 
out injury at two 
years. An assist¬ 
ant should hold the 
horse at the first 
saddling. Let him 
see and smell the 
saddle. In placing 
it upon his hack, 
turn the girths and 
stirrups over the 
top, and in fasten¬ 
ing the girths, do 
not let them swing 
about lest they 
frighten him; 
buckle them loose¬ 
ly, for if too tight they are liable to get burst. Let 
the colt become used to the saddle before riding him. 
After two or three days, the stirrups may swing 
loosely in order that he may get accustomed to hav¬ 
ing his sides touched. Many of these suggestions 
may seem simple and useless to the ordinary horse- 
breaker, and to others; but experience teaches that 
attention to them often makes all the difference 
between a well trained and a badly broken horse. 
Fig. 2.— SHOWING THE 
“pillar reins.” 
