Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-07-30
Teaching Young Animals to Lead.

1t is one of the easiest things in the world
to break youBg animals to the halter, and
one of the hardest to bring old ones to sub
nit to that necessary discipline.
No colt or calf tn at it is intended to raise
on the farm to maturity or to keep beyond
the time Of weaving should be suffered to 60
unhaltered. The inconvenience of having
cattle aud colts which cannot be led is
equalled only by its Righteousness.
Some farmers never break their calves to
the halter, it is SO much trouble, and when
there is any necessity of removing such
one half dozen men and boys with whips
clubs and stones are required for the opera
ton, and double the time is required for the
whole troupe that would be necessary for one
il the animal was halter-broken. We re-
member being witness of an instance of
this kind where yoke of oxen wero driven
ahead with a man on horseback and boys
afoot in the rear, with great clamor and
uproar on quiet sabbath morning, in man.
ner that was scandalous to the neghborhood,
all because half an hour could not be spared
to teach the poor COW to lead when she was
calf
The injury to the animal driven away
with such excitement is no very slight item
in the account, and often amounts to several
dollars, we doubt not, in addition to all the
trouble.
There are two ways to teach young ami
mails to lead. One way is to take them in
hand at q very tender age, before their
strength is developed or will hardened. At
this period of their lives half hour judi
ciously spent will usually bring them into
such state of subjection to the halter that
there will never thereafter be any trouble in
leading them. Let the halter be put on and
teach them that they cannot get away and
that they are in no danger Of being hurt.
Neither colts or calves should be suffered to
pull long nor hard, as it is liable to injure
the nervous system. A FIVE minutes les
son is usually enough at first When
they have realized that they have found
their master and cannot escape him, let
them have day to mediate upon the fact,
and the time will be well improved. The
next day, or soon after, not too long, the les
son may be repeated, always remembering to
use no violence and just as little force as
possible. la case Of colts that run with the
dam, if the latter is led away out Of sight
and hearing the colt will yield more readily.
They may be led away for twenty rods, and
as soon as they feel lost or confused they
will follow the leader, unless they have al
ready learned to fear him. If this course
pursued and young animal cannot be
taught to lead in half an hours time, he
must be naturally intractable. Too great
emphasis cannot be laid upon the direction
not to let the little things pull until they
I are half dead from exhaustion Of nervous
force We have known animals to pull al
the halter until they fell dead. If they will
sometimes pull themselves to death, it il
easy to see that there may be serious injury
from pulling. Many persons do not realize
this.
f The wrong way is to let them 60 until
three or four months old, and then with thre
! men at the halter, make trial of strength
s which ends only with exhaustion of one par
:, ty or the other,
: Whenever or however the halter-break
Q ing is done great care SHOULD always be tax
y en- to tie them securely with strong halte
r to firm hitchiug post. 1t is a most uu
h fortunate thing for colt to learn that ther
g is possibility of breaking away or workin
Q the halter loose. This is so obvious that it
=" unnecessary to dwell upon it.
If We believe in kindness to animals in a
d cases, aud that kind and humane treatmer
is are more effectual in bringing them into sui
d lection to man and the performance of th
E. tasks he imposes than cruelty, and also ia
r more profitable.
of What they need to learn is that man