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Show IMPROPER COLT BREAKING Education of the Young Horse Should Begin Early and j Gentleness Be Exercised. BY JAMES M. BELL, YISGI1IIA. It requires patience and judgment to prevent the ruin of a colt In the first month's handling. On many large farms where the owners trust the ordinary or-dinary laborer to break and work the colts numbers of them are made vicious and balky by rough and ignorant han-ifting. han-ifting. 1 It is no unusual sight to see a well-bred, well-bred, high-strung colt "taken up" to be broken In his third year which never even had a halter on him. The process Is to get the "hands" together at the stable, hustle the colt Into a corner, throw a noose over his head and drag hirn near enough to get a blind bridle on him. By this time he Is sweating llko a bull from fear. Next comes the harnessing har-nessing or "gearing up." Collar, harness har-ness and traces are put on him by hands who arc only used to working their counterpart, the mule or scrub horse. Should the oof cut Up much, which he usually does, one or two kicks in his b ly and several jerks on his tender ten-der mouth will he the next lesson. Then he is dragged, led, backed or pushed to the off wheel of a wagon, to the furrow side- of a plow or the off side of :i harrow, oh tho case may be. His two companions are probably old horses who have gained wisdom and experience with Increasing years and look on with mild indifference while the youngster, held by ;i couple of strong men and hitched up by a third, trembles and snorts in Impotent rage. TId back, reined up tight and with a heavy outside line In the hands of some ignorant half-grown boy ho begins be-gins his real life on the farm as a bread producer. Uy tlv second day, if the weather Is warm and the work heavy, his mouth will be sore at the corners, his shoulders shoul-ders galled, and. If working on a plow or harrow, his legs around the hocks will be pretty well cleared of hair by the chafing of the Iron in traces He will in two weeks have lost a hundred pounds of flesh and it will take several months of rest to get him In good shape again. Of course this is one of the many extreme ex-treme easels, but this system of breaking break-ing colts ruins many of the best horses .ery year and will continue to do so as long as this way of handling them continues In practice. In spite of the thousands of men who are driving horses all over the country and to every kind of known vehicle and farm implement, comparatively few-understand few-understand the gentleness and firmness combined necessary In the proper handling han-dling of green colts. It would bo well if all colts could be halter broken by weaning time, and used to harness, saddle and bridle as yearlings They will soon learn driving driv-ing by being used only enough to render ren-der them gentle-. Then, as 3-ycar-olds, when they are-expected are-expected to help earn their living on the farm, there will bo none of thorough tho-rough stlc- of (breaking them In. with the inevitable fver-sorc mouth, galled shoulders, nervous kickers and runaways. |