Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-03-19

farn'ers' Department.
SECRET OF HORSE TANNING.
(Con cluded.1 .
HOW TO HARNESS THE COLT. a.

Concluded.
s. AZ HOW TO HARNESS THE COLT. II
You should by all means have your har-
ness made to fit your horse, especially the
collar Hundreds Of horses have been
spoiled by collars that do not fit as they
should. "A little attention to this matter
beforehand will facilitate your progress very
much. Take your harness into the stable,
and go through with the same process that
you did with the saddle, letting the coltex-
anime your harness satisfactorily then put
it on carefully; and after you have it all
complete, then put on your lines; use them
gently, as helis rather -skittish, until he is
used to them little then lead him back
and forth into the stable until he does not
seem to mind the fitting of the harness to
his body then take hold of the end Of the
traces and pull slightIyat first. increasing
your strength until he willspull you across
the stable back and forth then hitch MIN
to whatever you wish him to pull W.T.
\. lt4e TO tuIrcHfUp THE COLT. y 4gos
This should be done with great caution,
first letting him examine the buggy or sui
ky in his own way Of examining objects
then carefully hitch him up; having every
thing safe, let him start the buggy empty,
and pull that at first in that ways then get
in, and let him take it slow, and he will
not be near SO apt to scare, and by degrees
you will be making good work beast,
thi If you want to have horse that will be
true to pull, and thinks he can pull a noun
tain, never hitch him to anything that he
cannot pull, and after he is used to pulling
he just thinks he can pull anything, because
he always has, and he does not know, any
thing about his strength beyond his expert
ence. -.@ 'f' ga
THE KIND OF BIT, AND now TO ACQUISITION A
3HF4 ast w COLT TO IT.. 37ft 3sf e9
ai You should use large, smooth, snafle
bit. SO as not to hurt his mouth, with bar
on each side to prevent the bit from pulling
through either way. This you, shall at
tach to the head-stall Of your bride, and
put it on your colt without any reins to it,
and let him run loose in a lar e stable or
shed some time, until he becomes little
used to the bit, and will bear it withouttry-
ing to get it out Of his mouth, 1t would
be we'll, if convenient, to repeat this sever
al times before you do anything more to the
colt; as soon as he will beart the Bit, attach
a single rein to it,, without any martingale
You should also have halter on your colt,
or a bride made after the fashion; Of a hal
ter, with strap to it, SO that you can hold
or lead him about without pulling on the
bit much. He is now ready for the saddle.
HOW TO MOUNT THE COLT. 'aNa
First, soothe him well on both sides about
the saddle, and all over, until he will stand
without holding, and is not afraid to see
you anywhere about him.
AS soon as you have him thus gentled,
get a small block about one foot or eighteen
inches in height, and set 1T down blythe
side Of him, about where you wantto stand
to mount him; step on this. raising your
self very gently; horses notice every change
Of position very closely, and if you were to
step suddenly on the block itwould' be apt
to scare him; bat by raising yourself grad
ually on it, he will see you without being
frightened, in position very near the same
as when you were on his back,
As soon as he will bear this without
alarm, unite the stirrup-strap next to you,
and put your left foot in the stirrup, and
stand square over it, holding your knee
against the horse and your toe out, 50 as
not to touch him under the shoulder with
the toe Of your boot Place your right
hand on the front of the saddle, and on the
opposite side Of you, taking hold of a por-
ton Of the name and reins, as they hang
loosely over the neck, with your left hand
then gradually bear your weight On the
saddle Repeat this several times, each
time raising yourself a little higher from
the block until he will allow you to raise
your leg over hisscroup and place yourself
in the saddle. N rg.I, ssg f,.tssas .t,ss
There are three great advantages in hav-
ing block to mount from. First, sud-
den change Of position is very apt to
brighten young horse who has never been
handled He will allow you to walk up to
him and stand by your side, without scar
ing at you, because you have wonted him
to that position, but if you get down on
your hands and knees and crawl toward
him, heswill be very much frightened and
upon the same principle, he would frighten
atyour new position, if you had the power
to hold yourself over his neck without touch
ing him. Then, the first great advantage
of the block is to gradually accustom him
to that new position in which he will see
you when you ride him. 1.G Gt 1919 #.
N Secondly, by the process of leaning your
weight in your stirrups and on your hand,
you can gradually accustom him to your
weight, so as not to frighten him by having
HIM feel it all at once And in the Sd place
the block elevates you 50 that youwili not
have to make d spring in order to get on
the horses back, but from it you can grad
ually raise yourself into the saddle.
EDUCATIONAL LESSONS IN HORSE
TANNING !; HOW TO sUBDUE A KICKING HORSE.
A kicking horse is the orst kind Of
horse to undertake to subdue, and more
dreaded by man than any other; indeed,
it would not be too much to say that they
are more dreaded than all the other bad and
vicious horses put together. You. often
hear the expression, even from horse jock.
eys themselves, H.I don't care what he does,
so he doesn't kick" Now kicking horse
can be broken from kicking in harness, and
effectually broken too. though it will re-
quire some time to manage him safely but
perseverance and patience by this rule
will do it ehsctuaHy. When you 90 to har-
nessa horse that You know nothing about,
if you want to know whether he is a kick