[21]
]CHAPTER II.
LONGEING THE COLT.

The colt may now be ‘longed’ and taught to lead.

Having procured a long cavasson of webbing with a spring swivel at one end, fasten it to the headstall, open the door of the loose box and allow the colt to walk out, following him up quietly and regulating your pace to his, so that he will not feel himself in bondage until he is outside the stable, otherwise he would, on finding he was not free, commence to struggle, and might possibly injure himself by running against the stall posts or slipping upon the stone floor. Once outside the stable endeavour to get the colt to the place selected for longeing, which should be as near as possible. Do not pull at him, but try to get him there by cunningness, that is to say, by taking advantage of his [22] ]movements and manœuvring as much as possible to make him go there of his own accord. Avoid pulling at him until you arrive at the longing ground, for he is sure to resist and fight, and it is best that this should not take place before you get to the cleared space required for his longing, otherwise obstacles such as trees, gate-posts, &c., will interfere very much in your command over him and might also injure him. If he should struggle before you have got him into a clear space, use all your strength to hold him, but keep as quiet as possible, or he will become so terrified at your struggles as to fight all the more, and it will become a pitched battle between the colt at one end of the cavasson and yourself at the other for mastery. Speak to him quietly, but at the same time keep up a firm steady pull at him, when, as he has already become accustomed to being tied up, he will soon give in and leave off struggling. You must now slacken the cavasson a little, and decrease the distance between you by taking a few steps quietly towards him, then [23] ]stand still and talk to him, when he will soon recover himself and walk off again, of course in the direction required, for you will have placed him between you and the longeing ground, thus he will walk away from you to it. Having arrived at last at the spot selected, take the initiative by planting your feet firmly and

taking a pull at the colt, thus giving him his first real lesson in submission. He of course will be astonished at your temerity and struggle, but will soon give in, when you must try to induce him quietly to walk, trot, or canter as he likes in a circle round you, the length of the cavasson being the radius of the circle. It is as well to have a whip with you, but do not use it or even crack it until every other means have been tried to induce the colt to do as you wish. As a rule he will give no trouble, but will run round you at the length of his halter, pulling more or less strongly upon the cavasson. Keep him at it for a time, and then gradually shorten the cavasson and stop him, pat him, speak kindly to him, and make much of him, giving [24] ]him a handful of corn or anything he may be accustomed to eat. After having rested him you may start him again but in the opposite direction, so as not to tire his legs or make him disgusted with his work. He will soon leave off pulling against you, and when he becomes a little tired he will get used to your word of command and will be glad to stop when told to do so, when you should always approach and make much of him. It is of the utmost importance from the very beginning to familiarise the colt with certain words to indicate what you require of him. As soon as he has learnt to start on his circular trip and continue it without much fuss, you must leave off and take him back to his loose box, and on no account keep him at his work until he is really tired, or he will soon become disgusted with it and will not exert himself on future occasions, or he may turn sulky, which is worse. After placing him in his box again, leave him to himself with food and water within his reach. In the afternoon you may give him another lesson of from [25] ]three-quarters to an hour in length, according to circumstances. On the following day you can teach him to lead.

Take the colt on to the longeing ground and make him circle round you; after a time, when the animal has sobered down a little, you can take in the cavasson by degrees while you walk round in small circles to the colt’s larger radius; keep on decreasing the distance between yourself and the colt until you are within a few feet of him, and then continue walking round with him as before for a few turns, when you can take in all the remaining length of cavasson and walk on as before, but with this difference, that at first you stood still, being in fact a fixed point representing the centre of the circle, then you described small circles to his larger ones, whilst now you are walking side by side with him. Talk to him and pat him, but be very gentle for fear he should take fright and pull away from you. After the colt has become accustomed to this and has gone round quietly a few times with you, you may by pushing [26] ]against him, gradually cause him imperceptibly to move in another circle, that is, with him nearest the centre, whilst before he had been farthest from that point, and so you change his legs and prevent him from tiring.

Keep changing the direction of the circle from time to time, and when you think he has learnt how to lead in a circle, or that he is getting tired, you can lead him back to his box by circles. Do not attempt as yet to induce him to

be led in a straight line, for if you do he is almost sure to fight; he cannot be made to understand everything at once. So far he has been taught to lead in a circle by stratagem, and by stratagem he will also be taught to lead in a straight line, but this must take place by degrees, being postponed to a future day.

Leave him in his loose box until the afternoon, when you can longe him again, and then by degrees shorten the cavasson as before and lead him in circles as in the morning, but do not keep him out more than an hour, after which take him back again in circles. On the [27] ]next day you may teach the colt to lead straight. Take him on to the longeing ground and run him round a few times until he has got rid of his exuberant spirits, then do as before and lead him round in circles, changing the direction of the circles from time to time, by degrees enlarging them; then, instead of leading him round an entire circle, make semicircles, that is to say, a half circle one way and then a half circle in the opposite direction, and so on, so that the centres of these semicircles will be in a straight line. Thus by degrees you can diminish the short diameters of these semicircles, at the same time increasing their long diameters in length, so as to form semi-ovals, and by continuing to lengthen them you will in time have imperceptibly gained a straight line. When you have to turn him do so in a sweeping curve, and gradually get him into the straight line again. Keep him at this some time, for this walking exercise will not tire him, and he will get used to you and to his work. In the afternoon you can repeat the lesson, and also on the [28] ]day or two following, until he leads well. On the second day of leading him in a straight line you should carry a whip, to teach him always to walk with his shoulder opposite yours; his head should always be in front of you, and your body should be level with his fore-arm and shoulder, otherwise if you allow his head to be level with you he will by degrees hang back, and you will teach him to drag on you, and for ever afterwards when being led you will have to pull him along. To prevent this fault you must lead him with the cavasson in your right hand, and with your left hand containing the whip, whenever his shoulder drops behind yours, you must strike him gently behind you, when he will come into his proper position immediately. By doing this and watching him carefully, you will in a few days teach him to lead well, keep his shoulder always level with yours, and not hang back, and thus prevent him in after days from being pulled along, and save him much ill-usage and beating. In two or three days he will lead well, and then you may put [29] ]the tackling on him, which will consist of a roller, a crupper, and a bit. The roller is nothing more than a surcingle having that part which corresponds to the saddle well padded, having on each side of it on a level with the sides of the withers a buckle for the reins, and behind, in the centre line, a D for the crupper, which should near the tail have a buckle on the near side of it, or it may be as well to have one on either side. The buckle greatly facilitates placing the crupper under the tail, as it can be put round its root easily, instead of having to be drawn over its whole length from the tip to the root, hair and all.

As to the best bit, everyone has his particular fancy in this respect. Some advocate a large smooth snaffle, with keys depending from its central ring; others a large smooth straight bit; others a straight bit with rollers on its mouthpiece; others a large straight bit the mouthpiece of which is of wood; others a circular bit consisting of a smooth ring with a loop on its upper surface at either side for its attachment [30] ]to the bridle, whilst others again believe in a bit having a smooth semicircular mouthpiece. I will now mention these bits in their reverse order. The semicircular bit being only a modification of the circular, I may treat the two as one. Allowing, as they do, no relief to the gums and mouth, through their continued pressure on them, they are not qualified to give a colt a good mouth, but at the same time they are most admirable bits for the use of grooms leading horses out for exercise, or even for the horses they ride during exercise, as they are least calculated to spoil a mouth of any bits with which I am acquainted, and as it is a notorious fact that almost every groom (and a good many gentlemen too) hangs on by the bit instead of by the muscular power of his legs, of course the bit which is least severe on a horse’s mouth, and calculated to do least damage to it, is the best. Therefore I can confidently recommend both these bits for exercise work, watering bridles, and in fact for any stable work.

[31]
]The straight bit having a wooden mouthpiece I also object to, for by being softened with the saliva in the mouth, it is easily torn and roughened during the process of ‘champing,’ (for every colt will play with his bit as a rule,) and whenever it comes in contact with his teeth a wooden bit is more or less lacerated, thus presenting a roughened surface, which is anything but conducive to the formation of a good mouth.