If you should want to lead your colt by the side of another horse, as is
often the case, I would advise you to take your horse into the stable,
attach a second strap to the colt's halter, and lead your horse up
alongside of him. Then get on the broke horse and take one strap around
his breast, under his martingale, (if he has any on,) holding it in your
left hand. This will prevent the colt from getting back too far; besides,
you will have more power to hold him, with the strap pulling against the
horse's breast. The other strap take up in your right hand to prevent him
from running ahead; then turn him about a few times in the stable, and if
the door is wide enough, ride out with him in that position; if not, take
the broke horse out first, and stand his breast up against the door, then
lead the colt to the same spot, and take the straps as before directed,
one on each side of his neck, then let some one start the colt out, and as
he comes out, turn your horse to the left, and you will have them all
right. This is the best way to lead a colt; you can manage any kind of a
colt in this way, without any trouble; for, if he tries to run ahead, or
pull back, the two straps will bring the horses facing each other, so that
you can easily follow up his movements without doing much holding, and as
soon as he stops running backward you are right with him, and all ready to
go ahead. And if he gets stubborn and does not want to go, you can remove
all his stubbornness by riding your horse against his neck, thus
compelling him to turn to the right, and as soon as you have turned him
about a few times, he will be willing to go along. The next thing, after
you are through leading him, will be to take him into a stable, and hitch
him in such a way as not to have him pull on the halter, and as they are
often troublesome to get into a stable the first few times, I will give
you some instructions about getting him in.
HOW TO LEAD A COLT INTO THE STABLE AND HITCH HIM WITHOUT HAVING HIM PULL
ON THE HALTER.
You should lead the broke horse into the stable first, and get the colt,
if you can, to follow in after him. If he refuses to go, step up to him,
taking a little stick or switch in your right hand; then take hold of the
halter close to his head with your left hand, at the same time reaching
over his back with your right arm so that you can tap him on the opposite
side with your switch; bring him up facing the door, tap him lightly with
your switch, reaching as far back with it as you can. This tapping, by
being pretty well back, and on the opposite side, will drive him ahead,
and keep him close to you, then by giving him the right direction with
your left hand you can walk into the stable with him. I have walked colts
into the stable this way, in less than a minute, after men had worked at
them half an hour, trying to pull them in. If you cannot walk him it at
once this way, turn him about and walk him round in every direction, until
you can get him up to the door without pulling at him. Then let him stand
a few minutes, keeping his head in the right direction with the halter,
and he will walk in, in less than ten minutes. Never attempt to pull the
colt into the stable; that would make him think at once that it was a
dangerous place, and if he was not afraid of it before, he would be then.
Besides we don't want him to know anything about pulling on the halter.
Colts are often hurt, and sometimes killed, by trying to force them into
the stable; and those who attempt to do it in that way, go into an up-hill
business, when a plain smooth road is before them.
If you want to hitch your colt, put him in a tolerably wide stall which
should not be too long, and should be connected by a bar or something of
that kind to the partition behind it; so that, after the colt is in he
cannot get far enough back to take a straight, backward pull on the
halter; then by hitching him in the center of the stall, it would be
impossible for him to pull on the halter, the partition behind preventing
him from going back, and the halter in the center checking him every time
he turns to the left or right. In a state of this kind you can break every
horse to stand hitched by a light strap, any where, without his ever
knowing any thing about pulling. But if you have broke your horse to lead,
and have learned him the use of the halter (which you should always do
before you hitch him to any thing), you can hitch him in any kind of a
stall, and give him something to eat to keep him up to his place for a few
minutes at first and there is not one colt in fifty that will pull on his
halter.