Colt Training | LESSON ONE | Lesson Two | Lesson Three | Lesson Four | Lesson Five | Lesson Six

It is not only necessary to know something of the animal you are to teach and the fundamental principles of teaching, but how to study all these things to the best advantage. In this Course you will find a plan for handling horses with bad habits; also plans for training green unbroken colts, etc.

This Course is to be studied, not simply read. Most students find it the best to first read the books carefully, then commence at the beginning and study them carefully and thoroughly. If you have a horse with a certain habit, or expect to train such a one for someone else, then to get best results, REVIEW that part of the Course covering that particular habit, until you have the method so firmly fixed in your mind that you cannot make a mistake.

Much depends upon thoroughly understanding the methods in advance of any work you do, for in actual practice you will have no time to stop and refer to your books. After thoroughly mastering this Book you can begin to train a, colt, BUT UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES DO NOT TRY TO HANDLE A HORSE HAVING SOME HABIT UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED ALL THE LESSONS. Do not think just because a horse is two or three years old that he is a colt regardless of any experiences he might have had. Understand what I mean by the term "Colt." When I use that term I refer to a young horse three years of age or under. If he has been worked or driven and has formed some habit; he is no longer a "Colt" so far as the handling he needs is concerned.

When a horse reaches three years of age he is so far developed physically and mentally, that he knows his strength and will use it against you, when you try to handle him by the methods given in this particular book. If the colt you own or expect to handle has reached that age, then give him some subjection. Just what the nature of this will be is to be determined by his NATURAL disposition. While giving him the subjective treatment teach him the few commands necessary for a colt or horse to know, remembering that he is a colt so far as the development of his muscles is concerned and is absolutely ignorant of the things that a horse, which has been driven, knows. A little subjective treatment given to a colt is equal to MUCH MORE than the same amount given to a horse that has been driven and has formed a habit.

DO EXACTLY AS YOU ARE TOLD. If in the instruction you are told to "caress the colt," do so. If I do not tell you to, don't caress, for if you do, you will be doing exactly wrong. If you are told to use any special form of punishment, use it, and in exactly the manner described.

It is just as necessary for you to understand something of the animal you are to handle and a few of the fundamental principles of teaching as it is to know how to study a Course like this. In writing this series of lessons I have tried to use words understood by the common, every day man, rather than large terms and words understood by the few.

If these lessons are not clear to you in every particular, when you have completed all of them, write me and I will try to make everything perfectly plain.

All animals have bone, muscles, and nerves. The bones are the framework of the body, the muscles the motor power, and the nerves, with the brain as their center, the controlling power.

Many animals, such as the elephant, etc., excel the horse in strength of bone and muscle, but much of their power cannot be used because the nerves which are the controlling power are not developed. Such an animal may be exceedingly powerful but very sluggish and awkward in action.

Among the animals of equal or greater strength, the horse 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. For example, if you strike a horse with a whip you get immediate action of some kind.

It is because of this highly developed nervous organization that the horse has displaced so largely all other beasts of burden among civilized people.

The horse is often given credit for more intelligence than he deserves. Many would even place him on a level of reason with the man. If you have such a notion I want you to get rid of it at once.

THE HORSE CAN NOT REASON. I make this statement, not merely as a theory, but as a fact based upon more than twenty years of close observation and contact with many thousands of horses. In this respect there is a vast gulf between man and horse - a gulf that no horse will ever cross. The horse is superior to man in muscular strength and often in the sense of seeing, hearing and smelling: Man, however, has the great advantage of being able to reason which gives him power over the horse and other animals.

I will show the difference 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 the steam conveyed to the brain. The horse, following an instinctive fear that has been handed down to him, tries to get away from the frightful object.

The man sees the same object, and hears the same noise, but 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.

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 to man's brain, but the wrinkles showing the brain development, are almost lacking.

Not only is a horse's brain simple as compared with man's but there is no connection between its several parts. For instance, a horse may fear an object when seen from a certain angle, but be indifferent to the same object when seen from all other angles.

Since the horse cannot talk and does not understand what you say, you will have to make your wants known to him in the first place through the sense of touch. 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. To some horses a sharp stroke of the whip may be very cruel, because of the extreme sensitiveness of their nerves, or being thin skinned as many term it, when to another horse the same stroke would only attract attention.

Since you must talk to your horse through signs, do not become angry if he does not respond, but rather blame, yourself for not having made the signs correctly. Watch the horse's eyes, ears and movements, for they will show you what he intends to do.

The ears forward and not stiff, indicate content. The ears forward and stiff is the horse's method of saying that there is danger ahead. The ears slightly back and not stiff indicate his attention is drawn to the rear; if the ears are back and stiff there is danger to the horse in the rear. The ears turned backward, close to the head, and stiff, 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 stiff and contracted denote fight. If it were possible for you to feel the muscles you would find them hard and tense when the horse is not under control. Whenever the muscles relax and feel soft and pliable it is a sure sign that you have him under control. As you become more expert, the condition of the muscles will convey more to you than anything else.

By these means of expression, the eyes, ears and muscles, the horse will never lie to you; treat him just as frankly and never lie to him. Watch your horse closely that you may know and act accordingly.

You cannot train a horse, and put only half your attention to your work. Be alert and keen, ready to take advantage of any sign of submission or willfulness. Be sure, in beginning a lesson, you thoroughly know just what you want to do, and go directly to that one thing without any wandering from the point. Do just one thing at a time and no more, or you will confuse your horse.

Remember that since the horse cannot reason, you are fixing impressions through his nervous system, which become habits by constant repeating. If impressions are repeated that you do not want, you have a bad habit. If impressions are repeated that you do want, you have a "good" habit. They are neither "good" nor "bad" to the horse, but he does them simply because he has been taught to do so. It is your business to see that the horse knows what you want him to do, and repeat and continue to repeat until the "habit" is fixed.

The greater resistance you get from your horse, the greater the impression made when you gain your point, and the more thoroughly will the good habit be fixed. It is not wise to begin training a colt under eighteen months or two years of age, because his resistance is not great enough and his brain is so pliable that the habits are easily changed thus giving more opportunity for bad habits to be formed.

A colt less than eighteen months old is no more fit to fix its attention on training than a five year old child would be able to understand chemistry.

It is a mistake to think you can break a colt a few weeks or a month old, for the opposite is true. It takes more time and more skill to train a very young colt, 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 a two-year-old colt is stronger is no reason why he should know his strength. In fact you must never let a colt know that he is as strong as you are. The more he learns his power the harder he will be to handle. Understand, that as stated before, you have the advantage of the horse because you can reason and he cannot. 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 level as the horse, where he has the advantage because he is stronger than you.

Moreover do not abuse your horse, for you lose his confidence and madden him. A man ought to be ashamed to abuse an animal, because he does not do what man has learned to do through a long process of reasoning. Remember, the horse acts only from instinct.

FIRST LESSON WITH THE COLT

Turn the colt loose in an enclosure, about twenty-five feet square without any harness whatever on it. A good portable enclosure is made as follows: Build eight panels of fence, each twelve feet long and from five and a half to six feet high. Use poplar or any light timber except for the uprights. These should be 2 x 2 pine timber, without knots and straight grained. Five boards to each panel are sufficient. These eight panels can be joined together with "pin hinges" so they can be put together and taken apart easily. When ready to make the enclosure, simply fasten these panels together, then form them into a square, two panels to each of the four sides and this will make a pen twenty-four feet square. Drive stakes at each of the four corners and fasten the corners to these stakes with ropes. The stakes will permit the fence to give if the colt runs against it; however, it will not break but will spring back into position again.

I used an enclosure like this for years, while on the road, and never had a horse to tear one down. When through with the enclosure all that is necessary, is to unfasten the hinges and lay the panels out of the way. This makes a very inexpensive enclosure and if you expect to have quite a number of colts to handle it will pay you to have one made.

If you prefer you can, instead of using two panels, use three eight feet long on each of the four sides. Should you not care to go to this expense, you can use a carriage house or barn floor, with all obstructions removed, and with a height of at least twelve feet. If the floor is cement or wood great caution must be taken to prevent the colt falling. Remove all feed, chickens or anything else that would tend to attract the colt's attention. Take the whip in the right hand and enter the enclosure. Snap the whip a few times to attract its attention. It will run to get away from you. You should remain near the center, and occasionally snap him around the heels with the whip as he goes past you. After he has gone around the enclosure two or three times, you should walk directly toward the corner, giving him an opportunity to turn his left side toward you. If he rushes by you strike him around the hind legs with the whip and keep him moving until he is again ready to stop. You then approach him quietly. If he turns his heels toward you, either to kick or run away, strike him sharply around the hind legs. You will find that colts of different temperaments respond quite differently to the action of the whip. Some are very sluggish and slow, and it requires quite a sharp stroke of the whip to "waken them up," while others, just a mere crack of the whip is all that is necessary to make them give you their undivided attention. Be careful in using the whip and do not make any unnecessary demonstration with it because that alone, will, in many instances, make some colts so nervous and excited that it would be almost impossible to get them quieted down. Remember, you are using the whip merely for the purpose of: first, attracting the colt's attention to you, so you may train it; second, compelling the colt to do as you wish.

As soon as he turns his head toward you, place the whip under your left arm with the stock or butt end of the whip forward and approach the left side of the colt, reward him by touching the under part of the neck; down toward the shoulder, with the left hand, then draw the whip out from under the arm, with the right hand, and, without exciting or attracting the colt's attention, hold it so the

tip will be directly over the colt's rump.  Say, "Come Here," give a very slight tap with the whip and at the same time take a few steps backward 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. Touch neck and shoulder again say "Come Here," give another slight tap with the whip, move backward to your right, looking the colt in the left eye as before. This time you can probably go twice the distance you did before.

Reward the colt with a gentle touch of the hand for obeying, and punish by striking around the hind legs if he leaves you. Repeat three or four times as at first, always turning in the same direction. Now, you may put the whip under your left arm and move backward as before, repeating the command, "Come Here," and the touch on the shoulder but omitting the stroke of the whip; the colt anticipating the stroke moves forward. 

It would be well for you to practice these positions on some old horse or even some imaginary horse, until you know them perfectly and do them almost without thinking, before you attempt to give a colt the confidence lesson. I have had colts taught this lesson so thoroughly that, after giving it, I would instruct my assistants to remove the pen-which was 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. M. Fulton, one of the prominent liverymen of that city, 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 it 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 students and they could hardly believe their own eyes. The entire time taken up with the 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 the advantage of us.

Immediately following the confidence lesson, I 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, as shown in the figure below, 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 in front of his head, not with a quick jerky movement, but with a gentle, rotary movement. Then step forward and touch him with the whip, very gentle, either at the side, shoulder or rump; move backward and at the same time say, "Come Here." The colt will step forward, when you should reward him. Now while you are standing with your left shoulder against the colt's right shoulder, reach back with your right hand and touch the colt with the whip just below the rump, allow the whip to move down the hind quarters and down the leg. As it touches the leg, well down, move toward the right, still touching the colt with your shoulder, Say, "Come Here." 

Many of my students may not have an enclosure of the proper size, in which to give this lesson, and I therefore give the following plan that will apply in a large lot or in one corner of a field. Place upon the colt's head a bridle, called the "Second form war bridle," which is made as follows: Take a piece of 5/16 inch window sash cord, fifteen feet long. Tie a tight knot in one end and a half knot very loosely ten or eleven inches from the same end. Slip the part of the rope that is between these two knots in the colt's mouth over the tongue, with the half knot on the right side, drawing the end with the tight knot from the left side around the lower jaw, fasten the end knot through the other knot and draw it tight, thus making a stationary loop around the lower jaw. Now, take the long end of the rope up the right side of the head and over the head directly back of the ears and down the left side of the head 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 one 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.

Take the colt to the place you expect to train him. Strike him with the whip as you were told to do when using an enclosure. When he gets to the end of the rope, say "Come Here," and at the same time giving a quick sharp jerk on the rope and a tap with the whip around the hind legs at the same instant. Proceed as directed for the enclosure training, excepting when using the rope to control the colt, leave it entirely slack. Never make a continuous pull on the bridle, but give quick, short jerks.

The colt will soon learn that he can only go so far without being punished with the bridle and 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. Now proceed with the "Confidence Lesson" just as you were directed to do, when the colt was in the enclosure. Of course you use the bridle if the colt tries to get away.

After the colt has learned to know the distance it is allowed to go, the rope may be thrown over its back and, when taught to follow both directions, removed entirely.

Care must be taken to use the rope only when it is absolutely needed. If used too severely, the colt might be thrown or it may become so mad that its mind would be on the rope and not on the lesson.