Hints on Horsemanship, to a Nephew and Niece / or, Common Sense and Common Errors in Common Riding

to the colt-breaker.-The noblest horse resists the most.-The horse has a natural right to resist.-The colt wants no supplin

is colt-breaking; and if in the attempt the young horseman fails to do the colt justice, he

its want of "dresses, scenery, and decoration" may offend, my

your whistle or call in the field, and eat carrots out of your hand

your right hand, and, with your right shoulder to his left shoulder, pass the right hand under his jaws on to the front part of his head. Bring the left hand up to the right, and, with a hand on each cheek-strap, pass the top over the ears on to the neck, if you can. Fasten the throat-lash tight enough to prevent its being rubbed over the ears. Tie a piece of cord, a yard long, to the off side, D, of the head-stall; pass the cord through the near s

ake the snaffle with the left, induce him to open his mouth by passing the thumb between his lips on to the bars (part bare of teeth), place the snaffle in his mouth, and tie it to the near side, D. If you have any difficulty, a long string may be used to the near side of the snaffle, and passed through the D. If the colt

it with these ends just tight enough to prevent the colt grazing; you may then pick grass and give it to him, whistlin

ead, pass the long cord over a gate, and

r if he lives in a field, lay it in the hedge to be ready

w should be dulcia sunto; but after teaching your child its alpha

arrot. The long cord should never be tight. If the colt's head is pulled in and his croupe driven out of the circle, mental sulks and muscular mischief must ensue. Nothing so surely generates spavins, curbs, and thorough-pins. When skilful, you may make the colt change without stopping, or longe a figure of 8. This may b

s. When girthed tie the string surcingle over the saddle; besides holding the reins, it now prevents the flaps flying up. Mounting. When used to this, use him to the stirrups. Mount in a loose box with three girths, the head tied loosely to the saddle and a second snaffle bridle. F

way the colt will be very easily tackled: I do not e

alike induce obedience to them. The noblest animal will obey such a rider, as surely as he will disregard the poltroon, or rebel against the savage. The noblest horse resists the most. I say the noblest, because it is ever the noblest among them which rebel the most.

ur service, assuredly bountiful Nature left them in ignorance of the fact. And it is to the sportsman and the colt-breaker that we must apply, if we wish to know whose victims are the most willing. Not to the cockney casuist, whose knowledge of the stag is confined to his venison, and who never trusts himself on the horse till it has been "long trained, in shackles, to procession pace." If he did, he would find that the unfettered four-year-old shows precisely the same alarm and resistance to the halter as the stag does to the toils; a

jargon of jockeyship, to say that the horse needs suppling to perform this

is to be made acquainted with the wishes of his r

t requiring any suppling; take the same horse into the school, follow him with the whip, and try to make him do it, he will think you a most unreasonable person; he will by no means be able to discover your meaning, and will, if you press him, finish by being exceedingly sulky. Mount him, and try to indicate your wishes to him through the medium of your hands, legs, and whip, or if you prefer the terms, to give him their aid and support. I will venture to say that you will be nearer two years than one, before you can get him to do what he has not only done but done for his own delight. In the mean time, if during his two years of suppling you have never given him a false indication or ever forced him, he will be no mo

pplied on the other, the shafts to prevent his turning short, and with evident reason why he cannot go a-head, he sees what is required, and does it without difficulty; but the same horse will not do the same mounted, in the middle of a gra

be begun with too early, and his lessons cannot be too gradually progressive. The great use of longeing is, not that it supples your horse-it is a fa

hat he is required to collect himself. Anything which facilitates the understanding of this bit of information is of infinite value; for the colt, like the satyr in the fable, is apt to kick against this blowing hot and blowing cold at the same time. Mount the colt, and try these opposite indications; he will do anything but obey them, anything but collect himself. If you insist, he will resist. He will end in overt acts of rebellion, or at least in dogged sulks; and that from not understanding, or not choosing to obey your aids, not from want of suppleness. Let art supple the temper and understanding of the colt, and leave nature to supple his limbs. By holding the colt's head against a wall by the chin-strap, he may be made to pass sideways to either hand by showing him the whip. He should also be taught to rein back; this is best done in a narrow gangway. The leaping-bar. The leapin

hesitating gait, which says, "here's my foot, and there's my foot;" or, "there is a lion in the street, I cannot go forth." This is the besetting sin of colts; and this it is which, on the turf, gives so great an advantage to a young horse to have another to make play, or cut out the running for him. For this indisposition

imus eundi-who soonest gets him to go freely straight forward-who soonest, and with least force, gets the colt without company five miles along the road from home. Violence never did this yet; but violence increases his reluctance, and makes it last ten times longer. Indeed, it causes the colt to stiffen and defend himself, and this never i

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is also a matter of policy. The colt should be caressed, rubbed, and spoken to kindly. He should be fed from the hand wit

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piece of carrot to a piece of stick. When he lifts this push a piece of carrot between his lips where there are no teeth, and take the stick from his mouth. He will soon

h the opening: he will push the door open to get the carrot. By always repeating the

which increases the confidence and intimacy between him and his rider, or which teaches him to look