AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
FOR THE 
In ' 1 arm, Grar clerk and Honseliold. 
“AttKICULTUUE IS THE HOST HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, ANI1 MOST JiOISLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN.”— Washingtox. 
CHANGE JUDD COMPANY, 
Publishers and Proprietors, 345 Broadway. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1842. 
Goman Edition issued at the same rates as in Ennlisli. 
TERM!? : $1,50 per Annum in Advance, post-free; 
! Four Copies $5.— Single Number, 15 Cents. 
VOLUME XXXVIII. —No. 3. 
NEW YORK, MARCH, 1879. 
NEW SERIES—No. 386. 
Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Training and Education Make the Horse 
The face of a horse is as good an index of his char¬ 
acter as is that of a man ; the eye, especially, marks 
his disposition. “A full and clear eye, says Stone¬ 
henge, “ with a soft gazelle-like expression, is 
scarcely ever associated with a bad temper.” Such 
an eye, also, “ will most frequently continue sound, 
if the management of the horse to which it belongs 
is proper in itself.” Every good horseman learns, 
sooner or later, to carefully note this organ in the 
examination of a horse, as an index of temper, 
and latterly more attention has been given to breed¬ 
ing for mental qualities as well as for form. And 
why not, when we value intelligence and a good 
disposition so highly ? Why not devote some 
thought to the mind of these animals, which, with 
no “ opportunities,” often display more intelligence 
than their lords and masters ? Our artist and en¬ 
gravers have skillfully portrayed a eolt whose eye 
evidently is not “ soft and gazelle-like,” but he has 
a face full of intelligence and spirit. He is, per¬ 
haps, not vicious, but bis education and training 
have been neglected, and he knows the virtues of 
his hoofs and teeth in keeping off those he pleases to 
consider his enemies. The catching of such a colt, 
even in the trap into which he has been enticed, is 
no easy master, at least for the men who have him in 
charge, though a Mexican or Indian would quickly 
show how it could be done with the lasso, which 
they learn to throw with accuracy almost as socn 
as they can walk. This fine fellow watches the 
motions of his would-be captors with suspicion, 
evidently conscious of the concealed bridle and 
empty hat. As he stands there with muscles rigid, 
ready to ruu or to kick, and every sense on the alert, 
as if he would show them he is “ not so innocent as 
he seems,” he makes a striking picture. But we 
doubt the desirability of having such animals on 
the farm. We do want that spirit, energy, and con¬ 
scious strength, hut it should be in a different con¬ 
dition. The fault is probably in the owner and not 
in the eolt. We know of a trainer, who, when he 
goes into the pasture among his colts, will have 
every one of them about him rubbing their noses 
against him, and each jealous of attentions bestow¬ 
ed upon the others. His methods are simple : they 
are, to begin gentling and training the colts at a 
mouth old ; kindness ; firmness ; never deceiving 
the animal; encouraging and rewarding obedience, 
and punishing disobedience rarely by the whip, but 
usually by abstaining from caresses and the tit-bits 
given to reward him at other times. These are the 
chief means necessary in making a wild colt docile 
without crushing his spirit. And such training 
makes all the difference between a worthless and a 
valuable horse ; for the same qualities that make the 
animal vicious and unmanageable,wili, under proper 
t reatment, make a spirited, enduring horse, possess¬ 
ing intelligence, and appreciative of praise or blame. 
Copyright, 1879, by Obaztok JVOO Comp*sty. 
