Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1876-11-02
e LEV STOCK.
THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATING
HORSES.

WHO nave tiC ItSPOISIOi'J " ~"
up young people or young horses. 1t re-
calls an incident of ante belluan times, when
five dollars was the regular price for break
fng a colt or a pair of steers. A farmer
having paid the price complained to the
professional that 1.-THE steers were not halt
broke. he could not do anything with them"
The reply was, 1.-THE steers are all right.
and for five dollars more | will break you so
that you can drive oxen" Horsemansllip
as q useful, not to say polite accomplish
ment. needs encouraging, especially among
notwithstanding much has been said
and written on the subject OF breaking colts
and handling vicious horses, and such men
as sRarery, Williams, Wagner, and others
have been all over the country and demon
strated to all the superiority of science and
skill in handling horses over the old method
o~fpounding and whipping them-still there
d are a great many who stick to the old GUS
tom of forcing them into submission by
kicks and blows, and who think that all
that is necessary to enable a man to break
acolt we'll is to have plenty of courage,
strength, and a loud voice; and tnen they
will hitch him up and try to drive him be-
fore he is accustomed to the feeling of the
harness or knows anything about the use of
the bit or rein; and if he does not move
right off before he has been taught to go, he
IA whipped if lie does not mind the rein the
Lash is laid III if he stumbles on rough
ground he is 'whaled; if he whoas too
soon when told to whoa, he is kicked, and
Il he resants this cruel treatment the above
h repeated. The consequence of such i'm
proper management is frequently some
kind of a scrape, in which the colt is taught
his first lesson in kicking, or banking, OF
perhaps he runs away and receives a scare
which it will take years to get over. On the
other hand. should the colt. as is sometimes
the case, prove to be very tractable, and not
make any resistance, his owner, after driy-
ing him a few times and getting him so he
cnn drive him s1d MT get upset, VIII call
him broke when he is, in reality, not half
driveable. and so, not being taught, he new
or learns anything more, only what he learns
from ordinary driving. This manner of
handling colts accounts for the many badly
licking and FESTIVE horses we have, and al
90 for the vast number Of awkward, ur-
handy, and stupid brutes which we see driy-
eu every day.
"Now, although almost any man can
break a colt after a fashion, there are but
few competent to educate acolt as he should
be-. A man to. successfully handle and edu-
cate horses and colts, should I'M the first
place be a natural horseman, and be pos
scssed OF that peculiar knack without which
no one can be q first-class trainer. In the
stock of patience, and be able to control
himself on all OCCASIONS; for the mar that
cannot control himself cannot control a
horse. Besides, a man should be posted in
bis business, and be familiar with all the
different systems of horse training, as taught
by the most successful horse trainers. He
shoald also be a man possessed Of a kind
heart, capable of inspiring confidence in the
ahimal he 10 handling.
Now if there was in every town a man
with these requisites, and he should break
all the colts raised in his town, the useful
qualities Of the horses Of this great and good
country would be greatly increased, and
there would not be so many accounts in the
papers Of broken ribs and bruised heads,
caused by horses running or kicking. /
hope the day will soon come when every
one shall realize the Importance of a more
thorough system of educating horses, and
when schools shalt be established all over
the land for instrnctinu comnetent men to