will spoil his temper, and he acquires a contempt for the authority that is tardily enforced.

At six months of age the colt should be broken to follow with the halter, and be made to submit at a time when his resistance cannot have such success as to encourage him in rebellion. At two years of age he should be made to bear the saddle without repugnance, and to know the effects of the bit. If he is intended for riding purposes he should never be put into a bittingmachine, as all contrivances of that kind teach him to bear upon the hand, a habit that is incompatible with perfect manners. But, from the time he is two years old, he should be lunged, at intervals that will insure his retain

ing that which is taught him with the

cavesson.

By the time he is ready to bear the weight of the rider he should be perfectly familiar with the stable, and should submit to all the manipulations of the groom. At three years of age, if he be a well-developed colt, he may be mounted by someone whom he well knows, and induced to go forward a few steps. In all of his previous education, and particularly at this juncture, he should be treated with firmness but great gentleness, and he should be encouraged by hand and voice whenever his conduct deserves approval.

If he has been treated as I advise, he will not be likely to show any restiveness on the occasion of his being

mounted for the first time, and the trainer will, perhaps, never experience any trouble with him. It is not improbable that upon the third or fourth day that he is mounted, he will, on being taken beyond his usual limits, show some disinclination to yield to the will of the rider, and refuse to go in a direction for which he has some dislike. No violence should be resorted to in such a case, but if he will not answer the bit and the pressure of the legs, he may be led by someone who should be at hand in these early lessons to assist the trainer.

The snaffle, alone, should be used at first, and the rider should hold his hand high or low, as the horse bears down or raises his head. He should

be ridden in this bit until he readily answers to it, and the rider should teach him, as early as possible, to go forward at the pressure of the legs. No whip should be carried in the early mounted lessons, and in lunging on the cavesson the whip should never be used to cause pain.

If the colt is naturally heavy in the shoulders he should be made to carry himself light by short pulls upon the snaffle, from below upwards. The ac

tive resistance of the mouth should be overcome by gentle vibrations of the bit.

When he will go quietly in the snaffle, and has been made familiar with the usual sights and sounds of the road, he may be put into the

double-reined bridle. The snaffle will be used to regulate the height of the head, and to begin the changes of direction: the bit will be used to teach the horse to give the jaw and to bring in the head, as I have before described.

These bittings are never to be abandoned, and they must be daily practised, so that the horse will yield to the first demand of the bit.

When the horse is obedient to the bit he should be made to collect his forces in equilibrium, and he is then prepared for schooling in those higher branches of his education that are to make him, what is so highly to be desired, a trained horse.

By firmness and gentleness the horse