Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-01-07
THE RACKING GAIT.
Preliminary Steps Toward Training
Horse to Acouire IT.

Preliminary Steps Toward Training .
Horse to Acquire It.
The rack or single foot is an acquired
gait. A saddle horse does not mean q
racking horse necessarily. A horse TO be
taught to rack must be racking bred,
and almost as soon as he is educated to
this gait he will begin to fight it. For
this reason doubt is expressed that there
ever existed a natural racking horse.
Your correspondent should first satisfy
himself that his horse can be trained to
the desired gait; otherwise he will lose
his own time and probably patience !;
also he surely will destroy the even tenn
per Of his animal An inclination to rack
can be discovered by watching the horse
start into and stop from trot or, when
under saddle, by the animal voluntarily
taking the gait known as a running
walk or fox trot. Some horses, however,
will show it only when pushed to their
limit at the trot, when they will strike
fast single foot.
A young horse with disposition to
rack should be handled with extreme
care when the curb bit is first placed in
his mouth. He should previously have
received complete training on the snaf-
fie, SO that not only he is what is known
as bridlewise, but also keen to take the
turning hints from the sway of the
riders body. This preliminary training
is essential that the rider may give his
horse little or no pressure on the curb.
for the horse. young and green as he
may be, at once realizes that the curb
has been resorted to for the purpose Of
making him perform in manner that
he does not desire to- The long, crooked
stem Kentucky racking bit has been
much used. However, it is considered
too severe by many riders, for the rea-
son that any horse, young or old, is
slow to take hold of it properly, giving
the rider the pressure on his hands that
is SO much preferred to the rider giving
the horse the pressure. In other words,
the horse should be encouraged to make
the advances, not the rider. If this bit
is used, the horse should be urged quiet
~ with whip or spur, the lines simply
pAOhCu up Will OuAJ q 64ABAb pI0bSuI0
on the mouth. The rider should never
relax his body, but should keep 1t slight
~ bent forward. indicating III this man
ner also that a push along and keep it
up rate is den ed.
Never rack !, IT horse over one-half
mile without changing his gait. He
will bless you for the change, and you
will be teaching him the signals for a
change, which are as follows: To trot,
with one hand catch and twist one ear,
watch intently, and the instant the
horse strikes the trot release your hold
of the ear. Repeat the operation, grad
ually putting your hand nearer to the
withers, when he will learn the signal
by seeing your hand placed toward his
name or by slightly pulling few hairs
of the name. To canter give the horse
line, raise right hand SO the horse can
see it, and as You do SO urge resolutely
forward with pressure of the heels or
touch of the whip. If you don't succeed,
stop and start over. Don't permit the
horse to break into canter out of the
trot or rack. Make up your mind what
you want your horse to do and have
him do it. Don't ride aimlessly. Be
master of your horse or he will surely
be your master. National Stockman.