LT COMPANY
 

Originally Published In 1908 in 8 Parts
1. Colt Training
2. Disposition & Subjection
3. Kicking & Balking
4. Shying & Running Away
5. Bad To Shoe & Halter Pulling
6. Promiscuous Vices
7. Afraid Of Automobile & The Story Of Kate
8. Trick Training & The Story Of Queen’s Life


Book 1
Colt Training

HORSE TRAINING
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Preliminary Instructions
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In beginning these lessons it is important to know something of the
animal you are to teach and a few of the fundamental principles of teaching. I
shall attempt to use words understood by the common man rather than the
technical terms understood by the few.
All animals have bones, muscles and nerves. Of course they have a
circulatory system, organs of digestion etc, but for our purposes the first three
are very important. The bones are the framework of the machine, the muscles
the motor power, and the nerves with the brain as their centre, the controlling power.

Many animals excel the horse in strength of bone and muscle but
much of their power is not available because of the lack of development of the
controlling power, the nerves. Such an animal may be exceedingly powerful
but very sluggish and awkward in action.

Among the animals of equal or greater strength than the horse, it is
the most useful to man because of its superior nervous development, by which
it has almost perfect control of its muscles and bones and gives instant
response to any outside stimulus.

It is because of this highly developed nervous organization that the
horse has displaced so largely all other beasts of burden among civilized
people. Of the one hundred million horses in use, eighty million are used by
the most highly civilized nations of the north temperate zone, because the
horse has proven best adapted to the strenuous life of these nations.

On the other hand, the horse has often been given credit for a great
deal more intelligence that he deserves. Many would attribute to the horse all
the faculties possessed by man. If you have such a notion, I want to disabuse
you of it at once.


LESSON 1

The horse cannot reason. I make this statement not merely as a
theory but as a fact based upon more than twenty years of close observation
and close contact with many thousands of horses. In this respect there is a
vast gulf between man and horse that no horse will ever cross.
The horse is superior to man in muscular strength and is often
superior in the sense of seeing, hearing and smelling. But man has the great
leverage of reason that gives him definite power over the horse and other
animals.

Man and the lower animals receive their knowledge of the outside
world through special the organs of seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and
smelling. Nerves carry messages from these organs to the brain and spinal
cord, and other nerves carry messages out from the brain and spinal cord to
the proper muscles and product the proper actions.
With the horse and other animals, all actions are the result of
stimulus applied through one or more of the special senses, and a
response sent out on the line of least resistance.
Thus man and the animal are alike, but man does not necessarily stop here.

The message he receives from the outside world through the senses
of seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling are reconstructed and
analysed. The makes theories and suppositions, and finally obtains causes.
Much of man’s knowledge is obtained by this mental reconstruction.
Therefore man learns through the medium of written or spoken
language, from the mistakes and successes of others, without having seen the
thing itself.

But who can conceive of a colt being instructed by its mother how it
ought to behave when it should be hitched up?

I will show the differences between the instinct of the horse and the
reason of man by the following illustration. A man and a horse approach an
engine while the steam is hissing from the escape valve. They both through
the sense of hearing and seeing, have the knowledge of the engine and steam
conveyed to the brain. The horse, following and instinctive fear that has been
transmitted through many generations, has an impulse sent to the muscles of
the limbs, and he tries to get away from the frightful object.

The man sees the same objects and hears the same noises and is not afraid,
because he, by his reasoning power, knows that the escaping steam is an
indication of safety by relieving the pressure. In other words, the horse only
recognizes objects and actions, while man goes back to the cause and effect.
Example after example might be mentioned to prove that the horse receives its
impressions by repetitions of acts conveyed to the brain through the senses,
and not by any reflective power whatsoever.

The fact that a horse does not reason is not only proven by
observation, but is also verified by an examination of the horse’s brain.
It is not only exceedingly small in proportion to the size of the body
as compared with a man’s brain, but the convolutions or winkles on the surface
of the cerebrum are almost lacking.

Thus a study of its actions not only fails to show its ability to reason
but its brain has no place to perform the process. Not only is a horse’s brain
simple as compared with mans, but there is no communication between the
two sides. A horse may not fear an object on one side and be very fearful of it
on the other side. The horse’s brain lacks co-operation even more than
between the two sides, for the horse has to learn objects at the various angles,
on the sides and rear, above and below the eyes.

Since the horse does not talk and does not have any comprehension
of language to begin with, you will have to begin through some common
channel of understanding. This is through the medium of feeling. Later this
method of communication will be merged into that of voice and motions. As for
instance, a touch of the whip will mean at first, “Go on”; later a motion of the
whip will have the same effect, and at last the word “Get-up” will mean the
same thing.

When you talk to the horse through the sense of touch, take into
consideration the nervous organization of the animal. To some horses a sharp
stroke of the whip may be very cruel, because of the extreme sensitivity of
their nerves, when to another horse of low breeding, the same stroke would
only attract its attention.
Since you must talk to your pupil through signs, do not become
vexed if it does not respond to your signs correctly, but rather blame yourself
for not having made the signs correctly.

.
Watch the horse’s eyes, ears and muscles for they are the
mediums through which it will convey intentions to you.

The ears forward and not rigid indicates contentment and peace. The
ears forward and rigid is the horse’s method of saying that there is danger
ahead. The ears slightly backward and not rigid indicate his attention is drawn
to the rear; if the ears are rigid, there is danger to the horse in the rear. The
ears turned backward close to the head and rigid, indicate a fighting mood.

If the objects are at the side, the ears act separately, each indicating as above.
The eyes act in harmony with the ears. The ears rigid and the eyes wide open
indicate fear. The ears rigid and the eyes contracted denote fight. As long as
the muscles feel hard and tense to the touch, you have not the proper control
of your horse. Whenever the muscles relax and feel soft and pliable to the
touch, it is a sure sign that you have him under complete control. As you
become more adept, the conditions of the muscles will convey more to you
than any other feature. By these means of expression, the horse will never lie
to you, treat him just as frankly, and never lie to him.

Watch your horse intently that you may know his every mood, and act
accordingly. You can not train a horse and only put half your attention to your
work, but be on the alert and keen, ready to take advantage of any indication
of submission.

Be sure in beginning a lesson you thoroughly know just what you want to
accomplish, and go directly to that one thing without any red tape or
wandering from the point. Accomplish just one thing and no more, or you will
confuse your horse.

Remember that since the horse cannot reason, that you are fixing impressions
through his nervous system, that by constant repetition become habits. If
impressions are repeated that you do not want, you have a bad habit. If such
impressions as you do like are repeated, you have a good habit. They are
neither good nor bad to the horse, simply his method of answering any given
stimulus.

It is your business to see that the proper response is obtained to
a given stimulus and repeat, repeat until the habit is fixed.

The greater resistance you get from your subject, the greater the impression
made when you gain, and the more indelibly will the good habit be fixed.
It is not profitable to begin with a colt under eighteen months or two years of
age, for the reason that its resistance is not so great and its brain more
pliable, consequently the habits are more easily changed and much more
opportunity given to undesirable habits to creep in.

The young colt is no more fit to fix its attention upon the training necessary for
it to know, than your five-year-old child is mature enough to learn psychology.
It is a mistake to think that you can break a very young colt easier than one
grown, for the opposite is true. It takes more time and more skill to obtain a
certain result from a colt a few weeks old than one eighteen months or two
years old.

The more nearly mature the body the more mature the brain and nervous
system will be. The fact that the two year old colt is stronger is no reason why
it should know its strength. In fact, you must never let the horse know that it
is as strong as you are. The more he learns his power, the harder he will be to
subdue.

Understand that, as stated before, you have the advantage of the horse
because you can reason and he can not. He will oppose your reason with
muscular strength. Whenever you lose your temper, you lose the power to
reason, and place yourself upon the same plane as the colt, where he has the
advantage because he is stronger than man. Moreover, do not abuse your
horse for you lose his confidence and madden him. A man ought to be
ashamed to abuse a horse that acts only from instinct, because he does not do
what man has probably reached through a long process of reasoning.

FIRST LESSON GIVEN THE COLT.

Turn the colt loose, with nothing on its head, into an enclosure about twentyfive
feet square. I prefer a carriage house or barn floor, with all obstructions
removed, and with a height of at least twelve feet. If the floor is smooth, hardmaterial,
great caution must be used to prevent the colt falling. Remove all feed or chickens, etc. that
would attract the colt's attention. Take the whip inthe right hand and enter the enclosure
with the colt.

Snap the whip a fewtimes to attract the colt's attention. The colt will run to get away from you.
Follow it around the enclosure a few times, you remaining near the center, and
occasionally snapping him around the heels with the whip. After he has gone
around the enclosure two or three times, walk directly toward the corner in
which the colt stops, giving him the opportunity to turn to you. If he rushes by
you, repeat until he turns his head toward you, when you approach him
quietly. If he turns his heels toward you, either to kick or run away, strike him
sharply around the hind leg. Keep on approaching him and striking him around
the hind legs until he keeps his head toward you.

As soon as he keeps his head toward you, until he allows you to approach,
caress him by gently stroking the under part of the neck down toward the
shoulder. Before stepping forward to caress, place the whip under the left arm
and approach the left side of the colt.

After caressing, gently place the whip over the animal's rump, and with the left
hand gently touch the colt on the shoulder. Give a very slight tap and at the
same time move away from the colt saying, "Come here", take a few steps
backward bearing to the right, thus drawing the colt slightly to its left, being
sure to look the colt in the eye at the time. He will step forward from the effect
of the touch of the whip and will stop when you stop, nearly always with his
shoulder touching your arm; caress on the neck and shoulder again, and move
off with another slight tap of the whip, moving backward to your right, looking
the colt in the left eye, saying, "Come here," as before. This time you can go
twice the distance, probably, that you could go before. Caress the colt for
obeying, and punish it by striking it around the hind legs for leaving you.

Repeat three or four times as at first, always turning the same direction. Now
you may put the whip under the left arm and move backward as before
repeating the touch on the shoulder and the command, "Come here" but
omitting the stroke of the whip. The colt anticipating the stroke moves
forward. Soon the touch on the shoulder may be omitted, also, and you have
the action of the whip and the touch of the hand on the shoulder reduced to
the simple command, "Come here," It is well in reducing these actions to the
simple command, to intimate that you are going to tap without tapping, or
motion as though touching the shoulder without touching. These motions
made just at the proper time, greatly influence the colt to do the proper thing.
Just as soon as it will follow at command, you moving backward, it is time to
train the other eye, for, remember the colt is two sided.

Go to the colt's right shoulder by slipping under its neck, placing your back
toward the shoulder, left hand against the shoulder, with whip in the right,
over the colt's rump, keeping your face turned to colt, looking it in the right
eye. Repeat the process as for other side, excepting this time move forward to
your right and keep the colt's right eye toward you. It will require some little
strategy on your part, for the colt will continually try to get its trained eye (left
eye) toward you. You will soon succeed in having it follow you as well on this
side as at first. If he at any time refuses to obey your commands or turns
away from you, give him a stroke with the whip. Caress him when he quickly
obeys and even caress him when he first turns his head and shows an
inclination to obey.

I have had colts taught this lesson so thoroughly that, after giving it, I would
instruct my assistants to take away the pen which we had so arranged that it
could be taken apart and put together almost instantly and I would start off
with the colt and have it follow me all about the large tent, along the edge of
the seats and through the crowd anywhere I would go. The lesson was so
firmly impressed on his mind that he knew nothing else but to follow.

During one of my exhibitions in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Mr. Chas. Fulton, one of
the prominent livery- men of that place, had me handle two very fine, highly
bred colts about two years old. During the forenoon, I took one of the colts
and gave it the Confidence lesson. That afternoon my first assistant took the
other colt and gave the same lesson. That evening we took both colts, each
following his trainer, into the tent and gave an exhibition with them to show
our pupils how thorough these lessons could be made.

These two colts were taken through a drill entirely new to them, first making
them follow the trainers side by side, then one turning in obedience to his
trainer to the left, the other to the right, crossing in the center of the ring,
back again, marching double file, etc, and without making the slightest error or
showing the slightest disposition to follow anyone but his original trainer, and
without paying the slightest attention to each other. This performance was
highly appreciated by the audience, and they could hardly believe their own
eyes. The entire time taken up with the two colts, including the training during
the day, did not exceed more than two hours at most. The secret of the whole
business was that we had their entire attention during the training and never
allowed them for a moment to get advantage of us.

Immediately following the above lesson we would advise teaching the colt the
proper meaning of the use of the whip. The best way to do this is to stand at
the colt's shoulder and make gentle movements about the colt with the whip,
being careful not to strike him with it. After he shows no fear of the whip being
moved about his head while you are standing in this position, then step in front
of the colt and move the whip about his head, not with a quick jerky
movement, but with a gentle, regular, rotary movement. Then step forward
and touch him with the whip, very gently, either at the side, shoulder or rump,
move backward and say, "Come here." The colt will step forward, when you
should caress him. After he is taught the proper meaning of the whip and that
it will not hurt him when being brought about his head or body and that he
must respond to its movements only when it touches him, it is easy to lay the
whip on the right side, the trainer standing with his back to the colt and at the
point of the right shoulder, allow the whip to move down over the hind
quarters and down the hind leg. As it touches the leg, well down, move toward
the right, still touching the colt with your back at the shoulder, and say,
"Come here." The colt will follow you with a circular movement, and so long as
you stay at the point of the right shoulder, moving in a circle yourself, that is,
keeping in the same tracks almost, and turning the body and feet only, and
keeping the whip in the same position (along the lower part of the colt's leg)
the colt will move his hind quarters in a circle in his effort to keep his head
toward you and his heels away from you.

Now you can start off in a straight line and he will follow you as before. The
same performance is necessary with the left side in order to make that side
submissive to the same handling. Another thing that should not be forgotten
is, that after the colt is submissive to being handled in an enclosure, it is
necessary to take him out in a larger space and give a slight repetition of the
treatment, after which he will follow you anywhere, about the barn, yard, field,
or anywhere you care to go. By having a colt taught in this manner you do not
have to drag him along to the water-trough or to the buggy or back to the
barn; he will follow you of his own accord. Even when going to the pasture for
the colt, if you have thoroughly impressed this lesson, all that is necessary is
to take a small stick, or in many cases nothing at all, get near the colt, say,
"Come here," and he will follow you to the barn, away from the other horses.

Many of our students may not have an enclosure of the proper size, in which to
give this lesson, and I, therefore, give the following alternative that will apply
in a large lot or one corner of a field.

Place upon the colt's head a war bridle made as follows: Take a piece of 1 inch
window sash cord, fifteen feet long. Tie a knot in one end and a half knot ten
or eleven inches from the same end. Slip the rope in the colt's mouth, with
the half knot on the right side, drawing the end of the rope from the left side
around the lower jaw fasten the end knot in the half knot, thus making a
stationary loop around the lower jaw. Now take the long end of the rope up the
right side of the head over the head just back of the ears and draw through
the loop on the left side of the jaw. This stationary loop, to fit properly, ought
to be an inch or so below where the bit goes and tight enough to merely let a
finger between it and the jaw. Take hold of the rope about three feet from the
long end. This rope is to be used to take the place of an enclosure and is not,
in any sense, to take the place of the whip. It is not used for a continuous pull,
but for a quick, sharp jerk.

Take your colt to the place you expect to train him and turn him loose,
excepting now you have the rope in your hand. Strike him with the whip as
before and when he gets to the end of the rope say, "Come here," at the same
time giving a sharp jerk on the rope and a tap with the whip around the hind
legs. Proceed as given for the barn training. Excepting when using the rope
as a boundary line, leave it entirely slack.

The colt will soon learn that lie can only go so far without feeling the
punishment in his mouth and the cuts of the whip. Do not try to make the
colt come to you by means of the rope, make it do that by using the whip as
described in the first part of this lesson.

Aside from using the rope instead of a fence, it will be of assistance in pulling
the colt's head over when you start to train the second side After the colt has
learned to know the distance beyond which it should not go, the rope may be
thrown up over its back and, when taught to follow both directions, removed
entirely.

Care must be taken not to use the rope too much and to use it with discretion.
If used with too much power, the colt might be thrown or maddened so that its
mind would be transferred to the rope away from the lesson.

SECOND LESSON.

TEACHING THE COMMAND "GET-UP."
For this lesson an enclosure such as a barn lot or a large barn floor is to be
preferred to the public highway or open field. After taking the colt into the
enclosure put on an open bridle with as easy bit, such as the Beery Bit
adjusted as for an easy bit, and no rein, also put on a surcingle or the skeleton
part of the harness and run the lines through the rings at the side of the
surcingle or the shaft carriers of the harness. This brings the lines below the
hips and gives you the leverage to prevent the colt turning toward you, as it
was taught in the first or Confidence lesson

I advise an open bridle for, by the open bridle, it accustoms itself to see
objects from all directions and at different angles more readily than if confined
to the one direction or straight ahead, as is the case with blinds.
You can keep better control by having the eye of the colt and read better its
intentions by watching the movements of the eye which you can not do if you
use blinds.

By all means keep severe bits out of the colt's mouth. Since you are to control
the horse largely through the nerves of the mouth, a bit that will lacerate the
mouth in the least, deadens the nerves and makes the skin calloused, enabling
the horse to offer greater resistance with the mouth. An easy bit keeps the
nerves delicate and sensitive to the least touch.

I do not use a rein in these first lessons, since it will have a tendency to irritate
or cause the colt to run backward, and this is the very thing that you desire to
prevent in this lesson, in particular. Then, again, the colt is liable to dip down
and give itself a hard jerk in the mouth just when you desire to have its
attention elsewhere. The use of the rein will come in due time; until that time,
keep it off.

In this lesson you are expected to make the colt respond readily to the bit and
start at the words "Get-up." After you have properly harnessed the colt, start it
in any easy way as a touch of the whip, and without the use of the command.

Allow the colt to go almost where it pleases for two or three minutes. The
object in letting it go where it pleases for a very short time is to accustom it to
go away from you, a thing just opposite the first lesson, and allow it to become
familiar to the feeling of a piece of iron in its mouth and the driver walking
behind it, both entirely new to it. After allowing it to go a short distance, stop
it by a sudden, see-saw jerk. Do not make this a severe jerk nor a straight
pull back. Relax the tension of the lines immediately when the colt shows
signs of stopping. Let the colt stand a few seconds, take up the slack in your
lines and be prepared to teach "Get-up."

Speak distinctly, "Get-up," pause two or three seconds, then strike the hind
quarters a tap with the whip, sufficiently to arouse him. Don't brutally cut
him, nor tickle him, but give him a stroke sufficiently hard to cause him to
move forward. After advancing partly around the enclosure, stop him as
before, without the command to stop. When starting the colt even with the
tap of the whip, you should give a very slight pull on ONE line, to give him the
intimation that you are ready to go. This pull is to be given very slightly. The
mere twist of the wrist will be sufficient. It merely puts him on his guard for
what is to follow, and for that reason, it should be given directly with the
command, "Get-up."

After the colt has stood still for a few seconds, give the command, "Get-up,"
together with a slight pull of the line, and immediately follow with the stroke of
the whip as before, go a short distance and stop him again as directed . Now
you have given the colt two actions of the whip, following the command, "Getup,"
and the intimation of the line.

By the first two actions the colt has so associated the tap of the whip, the
intimation of the line and the command, "Get-up" that if you look him in the
eye, watching closely his every movement, when you say, "Get-up", give an
intimation with the line and give a slight movement as though you were going
to follow with the action of the whip. The colt, in order to avoid the stroke of
the whip will start. Now he receives his first impression that the sound "Getup"
means, "Go forward," or in other words, you are opening up the avenue
through the ear to his nerve centers whereas before you have had only the
nerves extending from the hide. Let the colt advance a very short space and
stop him, advance and caress him on the shoulder. Be very careful to keep
the outside line tight when approaching the shoulder, so as to detract his
attention from the first lesson you taught him, or he is liable to attempt to
follow you, and thus divert his attention from the lesson you are now teaching
him. After caressing him, walk back carefully, keeping the outside line just
tight enough to keep him in his tracks, and again take up your station behind.
It is now a matter of repetition, using a slight demonstration with whip and line
till he moves promptly at word of command.

After he will start at the command, when bearing toward the left, it is then
necessary to turn him to the right in order to break the right eye and ear to
the command, and the right side to the touch of the line. After giving the colt
the command, "Get-up," on the left side and he moves forward, reach forward
with the right hand and grasp the right line well forward, slacken the left line
just enough to permit the colt to turn suddenly toward the right and give a
powerful pull with the right line. He will turn toward the right. You will find
that he will appear wild and unbroken at first, and will need a few repetitions of
the command, "Get-up." and the use of the whip. Now you have taught him
the meaning of the words "Get-up," and as soon as he responds readily to the
command and will turn to the right and the left at the touch of the lines, you
are ready to stop.

The cause of many improperly broken horses is accounted for in their early
training. Most men make mistakes in trying to teach too many different things
in one lesson and in making the lessons too long. An hour spent with the colt is
worth more than six hours, if you keep the colt's attention every minute of the
hour. If you work more than an hour the colt becomes listless and inattentive,
because you are working on his nerves, and they are as yet, easily tired out,
owing to the fact that these particular nerves have never before been brought
into play. Therefore, make the lessons short and teach but one thing at a time.

But what you do teach, have THOROUGHLY understood.
One of the things to be avoided in this lesson is the use of the word, "Whoa."
Under no circumstances use it. It would be meaningless to the colt unless an
action was associated with the command, and should you do this you would
invariably confuse the colt and run the words, "Get-up" and "Whoa" into one
another and fail to teach either. You will find that it will take some little will
power on your part to keep from saying "Whoa" in this lesson. Another thing to
be avoided in this and subsequent lessons is not to lay the foundation for a
lugger on the bit, by holding too hard on the lines when training the colt. You
should keep sufficient tension on the lines as will enable you to keep the colt
well in hand, but do not pull hard enough to cause him to lug against the bit.
Right here is where the luggers on the bit are made. They are allowed to go
against the bit too hard and the trainer constantly pulling hard on the lines
simply educates the colt to lug. This can easily be prevented by having just the
proper tension on the lines.

THIRD LESSON.
TEACHING THE COMMAND, "WHOA"

Harness the colt as in the previous lesson, and have it in the same enclosure.
In this lesson give the colt a thorough review of the previous lesson and add
the additional command, "Whoa." If you have said "Whoa" before this, you
might as well have said any other word in any language so far as the colt
knowing it meant "stop."

The meaning of this command will only become apparent to the colt when it is
associated with an action, and the first time you use the command, be sure
that you are in a position to follow with the action We now suppose that you
have started the colt with the command, "Get-up", and it is obedient to the bit,
and. you are now ready to stop. Pull the left line tight, and hold steady with
the left hand; grasp the right line about a foot ahead of the left hand, the right
line not drawn tight. Say "Whoa" decisively and distinctly, and immediately
follow with a sharp jerk on the right line, followed by slackening both lines. If
necessary to stop the colt, repeat the word and action.

It helps the colt to receive the impression if it is stopped the first few times at
the same spot. The third or fourth time coming around to this spot, it probably
will stop at command without the action of the lines. As soon as the colt shows
an inclination to stop at this spot, without either action or command, force it
on by the command, "Get-up", and stop it at another place. It will be
necessary to follow the command with an action at this new place. Repeat the
command, and the action, if necessary, until the colt stops at the command at
any place, without the action and with the lines as in the illustration.

Always relax the lines as soon as the colt stops. Teach the colt that "Whoa"
means "Stop," whether you are behind it or at either side. It is not thoroughly
trained with this word until it stops with you ten, fifteen or twenty-five feet
away. This is the most important command you have to teach your horse.

Your life or the lives of your friends or others may sometimes depend upon
your horse being so thoroughly trained to stop at command, that under all
circumstances or under any excitement, he must obey.

Never use the word unless you mean it, and be prepared to let your colt
understand you mean it. Use only the one word to mean stop and let that word
mean only the one act.

If, for instance, you want your horse merely to slow down, use some other
word, as "steady."

FOURTH LESSON.
HITCHING UP THE COLT.

Leaving the halter or bridle on, take the colt into the enclosure. I recommend
an enclosure for the following reasons:

First, if the colt attempts to get away, you can get control of it quicker and
easier than in an open field or public highway.

Second. You want the colt's attention to the lessons, and there are not so
many things to attract its attention. A horse thinks of only one thing at a time.

A school teacher cand to a ball game or a parade just outside the window, and
you can no more expect to teach your colt while its attention is attracted to
other stock or unfamiliar objects. When going to the pasture field, the colts'
mind is more upon the idea of grazing, probably, than upon the lesson. If you
have never trained colts in a building or limited enclosure, you will be surprised
to find how much easier the colts are taught and how much more permanent
the lessons will be.

Take a light pole about four feet long and let the colt feel it with his nose. The
tip end of the colt's nose is the same to him as our fingers are to us, and as we
handle an object to ascertain its nature, so the colt touches objects with his
nose. This is not generally known by horsemen. They imagine that when a
colt slowly approaches an object and reaches out his nose that he wants to
smell of it. This is absurd, as the horse only wants to feel of it.

After the colt has touched the pole with his nose, rub it back and forth gently,
as shown in the illustration below over the mane and down the front legs, back
over the back and against the hind quarters. Repeat the operation on both
sides rubbing every part of the body with the pole until the colt will stand as in
the next illustration.

If the colt becomes excited at any time, let him feel the pole again,
commencing in front and going back until he becomes perfectly indifferent.

After the colt has become perfectly submissive to the touch of the pole to
different parts of the body, it is then time to teach the colt to stand quiet to be
cruppered. Touch the hind quarters with the pole, raise the tail carefully and
gradually lay the pole across the quarters, about on line with the end of the tail
bone. Raise the tail carefully with the left hand, and slip the pole upward a few
inches; pause a moment and repeat. Continue with this educational process
until the pole is directly under the tail, laying across the quarters. Make your
motions very carefully so as not to excite or hurt the colt. When you have
cruppered it with the pole, raise the tail carefully and take the pole out from
under the tail, being careful not to hurt the colt in any manner. You will find
by one or two repetitions, you will have a colt that will never be any trouble to
crupper. Whatever you do, never jerk the crupper out from under the tail, for
by doing this you often hurt the colt severely and lay the foundation for a colt
bad to crupper, which often results in a horse that will kick at the slightest
provocation. After once making the colt gentle to crupper by my method, they
are always gentle.

It will not require over ten or fifteen minutes to do this poling and cruppering.
This process has a very desirable effect upon all colts, and, especially, those of
a nervous disposition. It makes them gentle to the touch of harness, chains or
even the cross piece of the shafts to come against the quarters, or to be
touched on any part of the body.

In my early experience, before having my colt training system, completed, I
made some grave errors. For instance; I went on the theory that if a little drill
in poling a colt was good, A GREAT DEAL MORE OF IT WOULD BE BETTER.

After making a certain green colt gentle to be touched pretty roughly all over
with a pole, I thought it would be well to make the hind legs and quarters
gentle and submissive to anything coming in contact with them, so that the
colt would not become frightened, in case the holdback straps would break in
going down a hill and the cross-piece of the shafts would bang against the
colt's legs. I took an old rake with the teeth all knocked out of it, and every
time I stopped the colt, I would jam the rake against its quarters. I gave it two
or three lessons of this kind before hitching it up. I did not discover my
mistake until I hitched it to the buggy, when to my surprise and
disappointment the colt stopped as soon as the breeching touched it. I took in
the whole situation at a glance and saw exactly what I had done. I simply had
made the point too impressive (and especially before it had ever been hitched
up.) I had taught it to do just what it did, and that was to stop as soon as any
pressure came in contact with its quarters.

It is useless for me to say that it was exceedingly difficult for me to overcome
this almost indelible impression and have it go along smoothly even though the
weight of the wagon did come against it occasionally. I mention this case to
guard you from doing something just as absurd, and also to show that it is not
good policy to go to extremes. By following the lessons as I now have them
perfected and have presented them to you in this course, you will be
successful in handling any colt.

You are now ready to harness your colt to hitch up. Place the harness on
gently and be sure every part is good and strong. Never place old or weak
harness on a colt, then you will run no risk of ruining the colt by the harness
breaking at the critical moment, nor will the colt be irritated by having sore
spots rubbed on it by rivets or rough places.

You now rein it up for the first time. Do not rein it high.
Drive the colt with the harness on, out upon the highway, and give it a
repetition of the previous lessons, on " Get-up, " "Whoa, " turning either to the
right or left in response to the touch of the lines. It will at first act as though it
had not been taught much, because the environment is entirely different, but
by firmness and a few repetitions it will become, in a few minutes, as obedient
here as it was in the enclosure. Familiarize the colt with the vehicle by allowing
it to touch and examine it according to its own way of understanding. Have an
assistant pull the vehicle around the colt a few times that it may see it at all
angles. Take the pole again with which you poled it and rub it along its side
where the shafts come and across the hind quarters, where the breeching
strikes it. Now have the assistant pull the vehicle up and hitch the colt up.
The poling process has made way for the shafts and there ought to be no
trouble in hitching up the colt.

After you are sure everything is secure, gently shake the shafts to let the colt
know they are there. Have the assistant take the bit with the left hand and
the shaft in the right, the driver remaining on the ground with the lines. At the
command, "Get-up," the assistant should force the colt off his feet to either the
right or left, then straight ahead, giving him all the assistance he can in
turning the shafts .

Only go a step or two and then allow the colt to stop and think what he has
done. After pausing a moment or two, repeat the work. After starting and
stopping a few times, climb into the rig carefully and start with the aid of the
assistant. After making a short turn or two have the assistant take the end of
the strap or rope, which has been previously attached to the bridle bit, and
stand away five or ten feet from the colt and assist in turning a time or two, if
necessary. Next have the assistant take a short hold on his strap and step to
the right side and assist you in turning in that direction. Here some care should
be taken for this is a critical moment. At first the colt will show some sign of
fear, but if the turn is made carefully and in conformity with the understanding
of the colt, he will very soon find that it is just as harmless to turn in one
direction as another. Make a turn or two to the right then again to the left,
and if the turns are made properly you can now dispense with the help of your
assistant. The fact that the colt shows some signs of fear when turned to the
right after going nicely to the left is but other evidence that the colt, to be
properly broken, must be broken ALL OVER, "top, bottom and both sides.
It is presumed that this preliminary driving is done in a large open lot, or on a
broad level highway, where there is plenty of room to turn. After the colt has
learned to turn the vehicle in either direction and starts and stop at the
commands, you may now take a short drive upon the highway.

FIFTH LESSON.
TRAINING THE EYE AND EAR TO OBJECTS OF FEAR.

After the colt has had his first drive and before you hitch him up for the second
drive, it is necessary to familiarize him with objects and noises that will
probably frighten him on the road. The first drive his mind was so taken up
with the touch of the shafts and the vehicle behind him, that he gave no
attention to objects along the road, which later may probably frighten him.
It is best to give this lesson in the enclosure with nothing but bridle, lines and
surcingle on the horse

You have no use for the rein, for you want the horse to have free use of its
head that it may see, hear and touch objects freely.
Stand the colt in the center of the enclosure with the lines on the ground
straight behind the colt, have an assistant keep a couple feet behind the lines.

Now you start from the rear, about twenty feet from the horse, swing back and
forth a few times, like a pendulum, repeating the command, "Whoa," every
two or three steps, gradually increase the arc until you make a complete circle
around the colt. This accustoms the colt to your command from different
directions and concentrates its mind upon standing in its tracks. Your assistant
has, meanwhile, done nothing except if the colt started, grab the lines and give
it a set back.

After the colt obeys you from any angle, take an old tin pan or anything with
which you can make a noise, and start from the front of the colt in the same
circle as before. Start the racket very carefully at first, only going as fast as
the colt can understand it. As you get directly behind the colt go very carefully,
for you are passing the point where he gets the impression from the other ear
and eye. It is best to lessen the noise, and if the colt is very nervous, stop the
noise until you pass this point, then start the noise again, gradually increasing
as you near the front. Increase the noise the second round, and this time you
will not have to entirely stop the din when you reach the rear but ought to
ease up a little. The third round the colt ought to stand in his tracks while you
make all the noise you can. Your assistant has, during this time, allowed the
lines to lie on the ground, except when necessary to grab them to enforce your
commands.

After the third round you can run around as fast as you please and your
assistants may go entirely away from the colt. This training of the colt to
noises can be done in two or three minutes if done as instructed, and as soon
as he pays no attention to the noise. There is no need prolonging the time, for
it would only be lost as far as training the colt is concerned.

You are now ready to train the colt to endure the sight of different objects.

Have your assistant take a couple dozen old newspapers, spread out so they
will make a large bunch, in each hand. He should stand facing the colt, about
a rod in front of it with his arms uplifted, waving the papers to attract the colt's
attention. Have the assistant move backwards and you drive the colt directly
toward the assistant.

Drive straight forward until the colt's head comes between the outstretched
arms of the moving assistant. The assistant slowly closes in with both arms so
that he touches both sides of the neck just back of the head, simultaneously
stop the colt, and have the assistant rub the papers about the horse's head
and neck, and down its legs to convince him they are harmless.

Now have the assistant start backwards, you starting the colt, the assistant
dropping the papers, one at a time, immediately under the colt's neck, so he
will have to walk directly over them. Let the colt stop and touch them if he
wishes to do so. Now pile the papers in a large pile and drive the colt over
them again and again until he is perfectly indifferent to them. The process of
getting the colt used to flags and umbrellas is the same as for papers,
excepting, of course you do not have him walk over the umbrellas, but you
may have a black cloth in your hand also that you may drop under his feet,
instead.

Hang a robe on the fence and drive him up to it. Let him take his time in going
up, encouraging him by saying "Be careful, walk right up to it, "etc., until he
walks up to it and touches it. Have the assistant shake the robe gently to
show the colt it is harmless even in motion. Repeat the process with a sheet,
or anything that will attract his attention, on the clothes line or fence. By this
time he ought to be convinced you will ask him to go no place that will harm
him. You are now ready to hitch up and give the second drive.

It is better to use no rein in this drive so your horse may have free use of its
head and neck. Anything that frightens him in the least should be driven up to
and the colt allowed to touch it. Never let him hurry past any object that
frightens him. Time spent in these early drives is not by any means lost, as it
may save time and dollars later.

GENERAL REMARKS.

If these lessons are followed in detail, you will have a well-trained colt, with no
bad habits, and one that will have confidence in you and under your control at
all times.

The colt ought now to be driven three or four times to fix the impressions
already made. Impressions repeated become habits. A well broken horse is
an animal with good habits, not one with reason.

After three or four drives these habits will become so thoroughly fixed that the
colt can be turned out any length of time, two years if necessary, and when
taken up will be as much under your control as when you quit with him.

If you have carefully followed this system, lesson by lesson and step by step,
you need not fear that the third or fourth time you drive your colt, it will
suddenly develop a new form of resistance and cause you trouble. It is often
you hear someone say after they had "broken" their colt in the usual haphazard
way, "Why, my colt went alright until the fifth or sixth time I drove him,
when he suddenly scared at some fool thing and got away from me." These
lessons will forestall and prevent any such occurrence.

The reason the other fellow's colt ran away was because it had not learned to
have confidence in the driver and had not the meaning of the commands firmly
impressed. Just as you had to know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide
before you could solve problems in percentage or mensuration, so must the
colt be taught some fundamental facts in a systematic manner. No one of
these five lessons should occupy more than an hour, and often can be finished
in half that time providing you have the undivided attention of the colt.

Succeed in gaining your point however, before quitting the lesson. Never take
your colt in the stall until he comprehends the point of the lesson. When you
have gained the object sought in the lesson, quit. There is nothing gained by
working a wearied colt.

One lesson a day is sufficient. When one lesson is given, it is better for the
colt to have its own way the remainder of the day so that what has been
taught will be more lasting and the mind will be in a more receptive mood for
the next lesson.

Allowing an hour for each of the five lessons, and an hour for each of the three
drives, you have a well broken colt with eight hours solid work. This would be
impossible in eight consecutive hours and besides benefiting the colt by doing
the work in eight different days, it ought to be recreation for you and allow you
to keep in an excellent mood which is absolutely essential to success.

TEAM TRAINING.

If you expect to use your colt only hitched double, give him the first three
lessons alone and the fourth lesson may be given hitched by the side of
another horse, the training being pursued practically the same as in single
driving. If you have two colts, you are training to be worked together, give
each the first three lessons alone. If the colts do not match well in disposition,
much can be done in these first three lessons to match them. Restrain the
impulsive one and urge the slower one so that when hitched together in the
fourth lesson they will have nearly the same gait and respond simultaneously
to the commands.

The fifth lesson should be given to the colts separately. It is well in the first
few drives to change sides with the colts, so they will become accustomed to
being hitched on either side.

MOUNTING.

Whether the colt is to be used for the saddle or driving he should have the first
three lessons. The fifth lesson should be given also if you want a safe,
tractable, riding horse. After he has had these lessons, by placing your arms
over his back and gradually allowing your weight to bear upon him, first on one
side and then on the other, you ought to have no trouble in skillfully getting
astride him, either from a block or by the help of an assistant.
The training the colt has already had will make it obedient to the bit and the
commands, "Whoa" and "Get-up," while you are on its back, as well as driving
it.

BACKING.

After the colt has been driven a few times, it is early enough to teach it to
back. To teach it this command, have the harness on and the colt reined up.

With the colt standing, draw the left line tight, give the command, "Back," and
follow immediately with a sharp raking pull with the right line. The colt will
involuntarily step back. Follow immediately with the same command and seesaw
pull. Make it take several steps backward and then stop it by the
command, "Whoa." Repeat the command, "Back," and pulling back, gradually
decreasing the force of the lines until it backs at command without the pull of
the lines. It is now ready to hitch to a rig and repeat the lesson.

The first attempt to back with a rig should be made with the driver on the
ground by the side of the rig and an assistant behind the rig pulling it back, at
first, to relieve the colt of its weight. The assistant can gradually allow the colt
to push back an increasing weight until it pushes the entire weight of the rig.

Then the driver may get in the vehicle and repeat the lesson from that point.

CONDITION OF THE COLT.

It is not profitable to undertake to train a colt that is in poor condition. The
more healthy and vigorous the body, the better will be the condition of the
nerves and the brain to retain what you wish to teach. A dull, listless colt will
be slow and sluggish in learning. A colt will remain in better condition for
handling if kept in the barn on dry feed than if kept in pasture. Be kind to your
colt at all times. When you first put a bit in his mouth be careful that he does
not have his tongue over it, as he is very apt to do, when you are apt to jerk
and lacerate the tongue at the roots and cause him to acquire the habit of
tongue lolling.

Have the bit fit snugly, but not too tight against the mouth. Always make it
your aim to prevent the wrong thing happening rather than getting it out of
the colt after it has happened. The proper use of the voice often tides the colt
over a critical place. Words in a confident, calm tone often smooth
excitement; words given in a firm, commanding tone, often force the colt on
when its manner indicates sullenness. Just as you do your best when
surrounded by pleasant influences, so will your horse respond to kind words
and caresses Harsh words and the frequent application of the whip by an illnatured
driver, often use more of the horse's energy than the work it does.

A colt trained by the systematic process you have studied will be worth much
more than one not so trained. It will stand tests that others not so trained
would not stand after three or four years' driving. Counting the money value
alone, you have spent your time profitably. Besides this, you have a colt that
is trustworthy and that will be a pleasure to use as long as it lives. You have
trained it without injury to itself or yourself and it will repay you in honest,
unbegrudging toil, and thank you in its best manner, for the opportunity to do so.


TIM BERNSEN
315 C.R.664 Devine, Texas 78016
tim@timbernsen.com  or  timberwolf_lt@yahoo.com
Cell:  830-931-4856                  House:  830-665-5991