By the time he is ready to bear the weight of the rider he should be perfectly familiar with the stable, and should submit to all the manipulations of the groom. At three years of age, if he be a well-developed colt, he may be mounted by some one whom he well knows, and induced to go forward a few steps. In all of his previous education, and particularly at this juncture, he should be treated with firmness but great gentleness, and he should be encouraged by hand and voice whenever his conduct deserves approval.

If he has been treated as I advise, he will not be likely to show any restiveness on the occasion of his being mounted for the first time, and the trainer will perhaps never experience any trouble with

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him. It is not improbable that upon the third or fourth day that he is mounted, he will, on being taken beyond his usual limits, show some disinclination to yield to the will of the rider, and refuse to go in a direction for which he has some dislike. No violence should be resorted to in such a case; but if he will not answer the bit and the pressure of the legs, he may be led by some one who should be at hand in these early lessons to assist the trainer.

The snaffle alone should be used at first, and the rider should hold his hand high or low, as the horse bears down or raises his head. He should be ridden in this bit until he readily answers to it, and the rider should teach him, as early as possible, to go forward at the pressure

of the legs. No whip should be carried in the early mounted lessons, and in the lunging on the cavesson the whip should never be used to cause pain.

If the colt is naturally heavy in the shoulders, he should be made to carry himself light by short pulls upon the snaffle, from below upwards. The active resistance of the mouth should be overcome by gentle vibrations of the bit.

When he will go quietly in the snaffle, and has been made familiar with the usual sights and sounds of the road, he may be put into the double-reined bridle. The snaffle will be used to regulate the height of the head, and to begin the changes of direction; the bit will be used to teach the horse to give the jaw and to

bring in the head, as I have before de

scribed.

These bittings are never to be abandoned, and they must be daily practised, so that the horse will yield to the first demand of the bit.

When the horse is obedient to the bit he should be made to collect his forces in equilibrium, and he is then prepared for schooling in those higher branches of his education that are to make him, what is so highly to be desired, a trained horse.

By firmness and gentleness the horse can, by means of the system I have advised, be readily made quiet to ride. If he becomes shy it will be because his vision is defective. A young horse, properly treated, will acquire so much. confidence in his master that he will

face objects about which he has grave suspicions. Each time that he finds his terror groundless, his fear of strange objects will be lessened, and I have seen horses, trained in this way, that would shy at nothing when under the saddle.

THE PIROUETTES.

The precision with which the pirouettes are made will determine the grace and facility with which the horse will execute all movements.

PIROUETTES ON THE FORE-HAND.

The horse, saddled and bridled, will be taken to some retired spot. The riding