Jesse Beery's practical system of colt training

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Chapter I. Colt Training

Fear is the principal power which causes the Colt to resist training. It is natural for him to kick against an unknown object at his heels, to pull his head out of the halter as from a trap, and if of a bad diBposition, to strike and bite if he does not thoroughly understand you. His fear is governed by his sense of touch, sight and hearing; and it is through these senses we obtain a mastery, and at the same time remove his fears of the halter, the robe, the harness and the wagon. These are the fixed laws which govern the actions of all Horses, and the training of a Colt is merely teaching him not to fear the working apparatus, yet to fear and respect his master, and to obey his commands as soon as he has learned their meaning. Each one of these senses must be educated before the Colt is trained. A Colt's education may be compared with that of a child, to a great extent. A Horse is, of course, a dumb brute, and his reasoning powers are limited to his past experience; so we must reason with him by acts alone. Hence the importance of beginning every step with the Colt right; for by our acts he learns. The successful school master aims first to teach the child to have confidence in him. Hence the first lesson we give the Colt is simply to teach it to have confidence in us, and that we are its best friend, and don't intend to hurt it.

FIRST LESSON.

Turn it loose in an inclosure about twenty -five feet in diameter, (I prefer a barn floor or large carriage house, having vehicles and all obstacles removed,) take an ordinary buggy whip in your right hand, and go into the enclosure with the Colt, Snap the whip a few times; the colt will run to get away from you; when it finds it is penned up and can not get away, it will then look to you for protection. Then approach the colt quietly; if he turns his heels to kick you or run away from you, give him a crack with the whip around the hind limbs; follow this up until he will

10 JESSE BEERY 'S PKACTICAL SYSTEM OF COLT TRAINING.

keep his head towards you, then throw the whip under the left arm and step forward and caress him on the shoulder; handing him a little oats, corn, or apple, will assist greatly in winning his confidence. (However, I prefer to use nothing but caresses on the point of the shoulder.)

In following the above directions, you will find that your wildest colts will follow you like a dog, in twenty or thirty minutes; which I claim is the most important lesson given the Colt.

SECOND LESSON.

Take it into the inclosure, put on it an open bridle with straight bar bit, and no rein; next, put on a surcingle or the skeleton part of the harness, and run the lines through the shaft-bearers of the harness.

This brings the lines below the hips, which will prevent the Colt turning its head towards you; now you are in a position to teach the Colt the use of the bit, and also the command, "Get Up." The first five or ten minutes allow the Colt to go about as it pleases, then begin to draw on the lines a little, and teach it to turn to the

BOW TO TEACH THE COLT TO FOLLOW.

TEACHING COLT THE USE OF BIT,

JESSE BBERY's practical SYSTEM OF COLT TRAINING. 13

right and left. When you want the Colt to start, use nothing but the words "Get Up!" "Horses can only be taught AVords of Command by associating the command ^with an action." Hence whenyou say "Get Up" to the green horse, you must givehira tap with the whip just as you give the command. He will soon start when he hears I'Get Up" to avoid the stroke. Consequently learns the true meaning of the comitiand. This lesson you should teach nothing but the words "Get Up," and the use o| the bit. The great mistake that most men make in breaking their Colts is, they try to teach too many things at once. A Colt will learn more in one hour per day, than it will in six hours, or any longer length of time. Make their lesson short and teach but One Thing at a time. But what you do teach, have it thoroughly understood. '

THIRD LESSON.

In this lesson we give the Colt a repetition of bitting, and teach the word Whoa! We will presume that the trainer has not said Whoa to the Colt up to this time, (but I have no doubt that he has said it five hundred times before he gets to the third lesson.) You could say Whoa! to the Colt until you were gray headed without assO'

ciating an action, and that would never teach it to stop at the word. The first time you say Whoa! to the Colt be sure that you are in a position to associate an action in order to teach it the meaning of the command. Just as you give the command Whoa! give a sharp raking pull with the lines; then immediately slack the lines; repeat until he will stop at command without the action; then you will have him taught the right meaning of Whoa!

This word Whoa, is the most important command that we have in horsemanship; yet there is no other command that is so much abused. It is the habit of almost everybody, when handling Colts or Horses, to be continually using Whoa, Ho! Ho!, without any meaning whatever. If you want a horse to obey your commands, you must never lie to him or deceive him by giving commands when you don't intend for him to obey them. I dwell upon this command because of its importance. Quite frequently your lives may depend on a hearty Whoa! I can truly say that in my experience of handling Colts and vicious Horses, that my life would have been at stake hundreds of times, had it not been for having a well understood Whoa upon my horses. If you are careful in teaching this command, and practice firmness in two or

TEACHING THE COLT WHOA!

16 JESSE BEERY's practical system colt of TRA1NINC4.

three lessons, you will have a horse that will stop at the word Whoa imder all circumstances and in any excitenient.

FOURTH LESSON.

Give this lesson yet in the inclosure, as we have a number of advantages of the Colt that we would not have out side.

First: If the Colt wants to act stubborn and tries to get away from us, we can control it much quicker and easier than we otherwise could. .

Secondly: There are not so many objects to take the Colt's attention. A Horse can think of but one thing at a time. The school teacher can not teach his pupils anything while they are looking out the window, neither can you teach the (-olt anything while he is trying to get to other stock, or having his attention attracted by chickens, or a bit of paper flying up about him. While you have the Colt in the building or inclosed lot you are not annoyed with the many things that are liable to take the Colt's attention out side. Persons who have not tried training their Colts in a building or limited inclosure will be agreeably surprised to see how much more control they will have, and how much easier Colts can be broken in this manner than in a field or on the road. In this lesson elevate the head a little and teach it the use of therein, but never rein the Colt high, Give it a repetition of "Bitting," "Get Upv and "Whoa;" then you should proceed to make all parts of the Colt gentle, as folloKvs: Take a light pole about six feet long, and permit the Colt to feel of it with his "'fingers, "(his nosej bring it gently back over the mane and down the front limbs, back over the back and against his quarters. If the Horse gets excited at any time, let him feel of the j^ole again; commence in front and go back again until he becomes perfectly indifferent to having the quarters touched with the pole.

It will not require over ten or fifteen minutes to do this poling. You will be surprised at the effect it will have on the Colt, especially Colts of a wild, nervous disposition; thereby makiug it gentle to have the harness, chains, or even the crosspieces of the shafts to come against the quarters, or to be touched on any other })art of the body.

fifth lesson.

You should take the Colt on the road and give it a repetition of the previous lessons; at first it will act as though it had not been tauglit any thing, but a little firm-

POLING THE COLT.

ness will make it as gentle and obedient outside as it was in the enclosure. Now you have a good foundation laid for driving. Next familiarize the Colt with the vehicle, by having an assistant pull the vehicle around a few times behind the Colt, and allow it to feel of it, and examine it according to his own way of reasoning. I would advise hitching the Colt single first, and he will be no trouble to drive double.

However, you may use your own pleasure about that; but under all circumstances give the above lessons first. If you wanted to teach a dog to drive cattle, you wouldn't get an old dog that would run in front of the cows and chase them wherever you didn't want them; nine chances out of ten, the young dog would be like the old one. It would be natural for him to learn more from the old dog than he would from your teachings. For that reason I prefer to educate the Colt by itself. It is very common for a man to hitch his Colt first, without any training at all, by the side of an old farm Horse that is lazy, possibly blind in one eye, and so old that he is listless. When you have this nervous, excitable Colt harnessed by the side of the old slow Horse, you then take your lines and ask your team to go. The Colt plunges ahead; the old Horse having spent many days in the harness, takes life very easy and

AS TIIJE COLT WH,L STAND AJ-'TKR ONCE BEJNG . TOJ^ED, gradually gets in motion. The Colt comes back, and the load don't move. The next time you ask them to go the old Horse moves ahead, the Colt sets himself back in the breeching. Now you are in a good position to teach your Colt to balk. If you will take the Colt away from the old Horse, and teach him by our system of training to drive single first, you will have no trouble to drive him double. The first time you hitch the Colt up, if it is wild or inclined to be doubtful, it is advisable to use a single foot strap: buckle a foot strap with a ring in it, around the off front foot below the fetlock joint; next take a half inch cotton ro])e, fifteen feet long with a snap on one end, have a ring in the belly-baud of your harness; run the snap through the ring at the girth, down through the ring in foot strap, up, and snap into the ring attached to belly-baud. You then have a double purchase on the colt's front limb. If it wants to get away or turn around, draw on your rope and you will have him on three legs. You can easily control him when you have him on three legs.

After these lessons have been given, you are ready for driving the Colt, Your next work will be to familiarize the Colt to objects of fear. The first time your Colt gets frightened at a stohe, stump, or anything else that might be along the road side,

SHOWING THE WORKING OF OUR SINGLE FOOT STRAP, be sure that you take him right up to it and allow him to examine, feel of it with his nose, and be convinced that the object is harmless. In order to do this successfully, you should talk to the Colt, something like this: Take care! Look out! Be easy, It will not hurt you. Walk right up to it, Sir! and after he has walked up to it say Whoa! and allow him to stand by it until it ceases to attract his attention. If you will practice this for the first three or four drives upon every occasion, you wil be surprised to see the effect it will have on your Colt. After that, if your Colt would happen to get scared at any thing, as soon as it hears your voice it will want to go right up to the object that it was frightened at without even the use of lines.

It would be almost fatal to success to allow the colt to resist at any time through carelessness, as it would make him very cunning and doubtful, which would require very careful management to overcome. Give the Colt four or five drives with an open vehicle, and then you can get it use to a top buggy about as follows: before you hitch him up allow him to feel of the top with his nose, next take your lines out of the terete rings and ran them through the thill straps of the harness; get behind him and drive him with the lines, while you have an assistant walk by your side with au umbrella, opening it just a little at a time, or as much as the Colt will bear without exciting fear; drive the Colt around in this manner until he Avill bear the umbrella carried behind him wide open, without causing any fear. You may now hitch it to the buggy with the top down, and while driving, test him again with the umbrella; if he shows much fear of it while hitched up, you can use the single foot strap. After he becomes perfectly indifferent to having the umbrella open behind him, you may next have your assistant raise the top by degrees. You will find that after the umbrella test, he will pay but little attention to the top. We use the umbrella first because it is easier to raise and lower than the top. All of this process should not require more than twenty or thirty minutes when properly done . Once getting your Colt accustomed to having the l(tp behind it, always done, and he will never show any fear of it afterwards.

Continue driving and teaching the Colt for fifteen or twenty days, one hour per day, and at the expiration of that time you will have all of these early impresions thoroughly fixed upon the brain; so that your Colt could stand in the stable a month, or even six months, and it would not forget its education. In fact it would never forget its early training. Early impressions are strong and lasting in the Horse as well as in man. Who is there among men that does not well remember things that he was taught while young; and the impressions that were made then are seldom, if ever forgotten. It is the same with the Horse. No animal has memory equal to that of a Horse. Hence the importance of giving him a systematic coui-se of handling. Men as a rule have too little patience in the training of their Colts, and they very often expect to accomplish more in a short time than can possibly be performed. Yet it is surprising to see Avhat a short time it requires to break a Colt according to this system, when we measure the time by days. Suppose that in training a Colt we were to spend one hour per day for twenty days, which would be as long as should be needed. Compute the time at ten hours per day, you will find that my whole Colt training system amounts to but two days time. You would then have a well trained Horse, a Colt that would know more, and be more tractable than your ordinarily broken horses at the age of six years. There is no farmer or horse raiser that could employ his time more profitably, than to follow this system in educating his Colts. It would enhance their value at least thirty or forty dollars, for there is no reasonable person that would not give thirty or forty dollars more for a, horse properly trained than for one that was not tractable and safe.

Chapter II. Slibjection

All vicious habits and vices have been learned and acquired from previous contests. A Colt that breaks its halter, kicks itself loose, or scares you out by fighting, will try it again with increased zeal. He has now learned how to do it. Do not let them begin, but if they should, take it out of them before you stop. You must conquer them or they will you. There is no partnership in the matter; you must be master, and yet you must do it by firmness, patience and perseverence. There are no advantages gained by the brutal use of the whip. There are advantages enough to be taken of the Colt, which will soon cause him to yield, because he finds himself powerless against you . The first principles involved in managing unruly or vicious Horses, are to show them that we are master, and to do this we must use coercive

JESSY BEERY's practical SYSTEM OF COLT TRAINING. 27

treatment in order to subdue the Horse. We have several direct methods of subjection, and also a number of indirect methods. The first method that I shall describe, will be the method of disabling and throwing. To throw a Horse, you should have on him a good, strong halter, with nose piece coming rather low down on the nose; next have a surcingle three inches wide, with two rings directly on top of the back; one on the front part of the surcingle, the other on the back part; attach two more rings about five inches lower, to the off side in the same manner. The rings attached to the back part of the surcingle are for the straps attached to the crupper. Take a hitching strap about eight feet long, snap it into the front ring on top of the back, bring the end on off side of neck through halter ring, back through ring on off side of back. Next have a leg strap, and strap up near front foot. You then stand on off side of the Horse, take hold of the halter with your right hand, and the end of strap with your left hand. Now you are in the first position to throw the Horse.

Draw his head around to his side, take the slack of the strap up with left hand, and hold strap and halter with right hand. If he is inclined to rear, whirl him

FIRST POSITION TAKKN TO TIIKOU A llOltSE.

SKrOND POSITION IN LAYINU THJi HORSE DOWN, around a few times, and press in at his shoulder, he will come down on his knee and will go over with a rolling motion on his side. By keeping hold of the end of the strap, you can prevent the Horse jumping up; then while holding the strap have your assistant rattle tin pans, sleigh bells, and all the other rackets that you can get hold of. There is nothing that takes the conceit out of a Horse quicker than to lay him down, or deprive him of his strength. We can get three-fourths of the Horses under control with this method. Horses that can not be subdued with this method are more likely to be cold blooded, sullen horses, that will fall down and lay there without fighting the treatment. Horses of that kind, you will have to apply other methods of subjection.

This method is more especially adapted to Horses that will resist, and fight the treatment hard. If the Horse is sensitive about the tail, quarters, or feet, take a light pole and touch the quarters and feet while you have him down, until there is no resistence shown by the muscles becoming relaxed. Then allow him to get up, and repeat the handling or poling until submitted to on his feet. After being thrown to the extent of making him lie down submissively, it will do no good to repeat the treatment. In subduing a horse with this method, the main point is to make the horse work hard; keep him fighting steady until he gives up the contest. Usually they will give up in from half to three quarters of an hour. After they become submissive, it is very important that you treat them with the greatest of kindness, in order to fix the impression, and teach them that we are masters; and not only masters, but a kind friend to them. This method is better to be used in connection with other methods of subjection.

The next best method of subduing vicious Horses is by the use of the "Double Safety Rope." This is undoubtedly the best means of control that has ever been devised, of which the appliances used are few, simple, and easy to manipulate. Have two rings about five inches apart in the bottom of your surcingle, or girth of your harness. Buckle a foot strap with a ring in it around each front limb, below the fetlock joint; then take a half inch cotton rope eighteen feet long with a snap in one end. Run the snap through ring in surcingle, down through ring at ofP front foot, up through other ring in surcingle, down and snap in ring on near foot. This gives you a double purchase upon each front limb. Carry this rope back past the

POSITION WHEN THE HORSE IS POWN, quarters on off side. Have rings low down on surcingle at each side for the lines to pass through, as in Colt training. Next take the rope and whip in right hand, and lines iu left. Now give him the command to go, and when you are ready for him to stop, say "Whoa," and pull the Safety Rope at the same time. This will bring him to his knees.

You should always have good knee pads on him, so that when you bring him to his knees it will not hurt him. In from thirty to forty minutes you can subdue the most vicious Horse with this Double Safety Rope. The next method of subjection that I shall describe, will be pressure on the spinal cord, or passive treatment. It is well known that by hitting a Horse at a certain point back of the ear, it is easy to knock him down. At the back part of the head, or just back of the ears, there is about an inch of the spinal cord that is not covered with bone. If a knife would be stuck in at this point sufficiently to penetrate it, it would cause instant death. By bringing gentle but firm pressure upon this part, you have one of the most safe and reliable methods known. It is especially fitted to certain dispositions and vices, very often making it easy to subdue Horses upon which other methods would fail. Hdwever it is a meth'

SHOWING PBINCIPLE OP DOUBLE SAFETY ROPE.

JESSE BEERY's practical SYSTEM OF COLT TRAINING. S5

od that must be used with great care and judgment. It is our best method for Horses bad to shoe, as it can be applied right in the shop. It is also good in the management of bad balkers. This appliance consist of a roll to be put in the mouth, and attached to a strap to go over the top of the head, and fastened with a buckle on near side. The roll should be made of leather and stuffed with flax seed. Make it about an inch in diameter.

Put the roll in the mouth, bring the strap over the head just back of the ears, draw down tight and buckel. The principle involved, is that the greater the strength oE will and power ot" resistance on the part of the Horse, the more pressure should be used and the longer it must be left on. In no case, if put ®n very tight, should it be left on longer than thirty minutes. While the average time for ordinary cases should not be longer than ten to fifteen minutes. Success will now depend upon the advantage taken while using this treatment, as it will do but little good to put on pressure and do nothing more. If the Horse is nervous and touchy, you should take a pole and bring it against the quarters and sensitive parts, until he will submit to being touched and handled as you please. The main point of observation now should be the expression of the Horse's eyes and ears. When he quits resisting, and the eye seems to soften as if going to sleep, and he begins to sweat quite freely, it is a sure sign of unconditional submission, and it would be abusive to keep on pressure any longer. The above indication will be noticeable in all cases, and when noticed, the pressure should be removed at once. A type of Horses that this method should not be used on, are cold blooded or sullen Horses, neither should it be used upon unbroken Colts; in fact I wouldn't advise much severity in the management of any Colt. The less excitement and punishment used in their treatment the better.

I have described several of the best and most direct methods of subjection, and will explain further on how to apply them, and the necessary modifications of the different methods. Next will come a few indirect methods of control. If' you have a Horse that is afraid of a robe, an umbrella, bad to shoe, or any similar vice, the use of a cord bridle would be all that would be necessary to control him with. While I do not personally approve of the use of cord bridles, unless used by men of good judgment, yet when they are properly used it is surprising to see what they will do for us in a short time. With a little practice they will be found a very valuable means of control. For that reason I will describe a few cord bridles.

'FIRST POEM WAR BRIDLE

For the simplest form of cord bridle, or First form War bridle: take a piece of the best kind of cord, five sixteenths of an inch in diameter, and fifteen feet long, (hard woven sash cord is the best to be used for these bridles) tie a knot in each end, make a stationary loop around the neck, bring down on off side, through the mouth, and back through the stationary loop; you then have a bridle that gives you friction in the Horse's mouth. If you have a Horse with a very blunt mouth, or is stubborn to lead, give a few pulls with this bridle, right and left, and you will soon make his mouth sensitive to an easy bit, or make him follow you readily without any restraint on his head.

To make a modification of First form: pass it over the head just back of ears, through the mouth, then through the last cord on near side. When there is more power desired than for First form War bridle, this modification will be very applicable.

To make a Second form War bridle: make a stationary loop around the lower jaw, rather tight, bring the cord from off side, over the head just back of ears, down on near side, through the loop at jaw. This bridle gives you power sideways and

MODIFICATION OF FIRST FORM WAR BRIDLE.

EXCELSIOR BRim,E.

forwards. It is very good to teach a Colt or a Horse that has a sensitive mouth, to lead or follow, as the part in the mouth works about an inch below the bit; hence it does not efEect the sensitive part of the mouth. The real power we get from this bridle is pressure on the spinal cord.

Excelsior bridle : make a stationary loop around the Horse's lower jaw, rather loose, bring it over the middle of the neck from off side, pass down through the loop on near side, bring over the bead just back of the ears, down through mouth, under upper lip, above upper jaw, and through the cord above loop. This bridle can be used in controlling a Horse that is afraid of uml)rellas and robes, bad to shoe', etc. If he is afraid of steam, you can lead him right up to it and hold him there with this powerful bridle, until you can convince him that steam will not hurt him. I will say more about these cord bridles latter on.

Another good method of getting a Horse under control that is afraid of shafts, or a wild Colt that don't want you to ride him, is to take one hand on the bridle and the other one hold of his tail, and whirl him around eight or ten times He will become so dizzy that he will almost forget he is a Horse, and you can handle him with