HANDLING YOUNG HORSES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 780, 28 September 1929, Page 31

HANDLING YOUNG HORSES

CARE NEEDED Young horses should always be ’ handled with care, but to keep them i over-bitted is a serious mistake. A j young horse is tender in the mouth, j and any undue pulling or tugging at. ’ the reins is liable to injure the animal’s tongue or mouth. While a young horse must necessarily be taught to answer the rein, it should never be ; handled violently even when prompt j correction is necessary* A firm and I strong hand (says “Dalgety’s Review”) | may be laid upon the reins without any fear of injury to the mouths of the horses. It is the jerking and pulling alternatively this way and that, as an incompetent young lad is likely to do, that consitutes the element of danger. Many a horse has 1 been spoilt at the outset through in- | efficient handling. A. muddle-headed horseman conveys his agitated feelings and indecisive thought to the | animal sub-consciously as it were, and j the horse, equally as full of conflicting emotions as the man attempting to train it, may well be excused for its i intractibilitv. The horseman of hasty ! temper is rarely a good trainer. Bej t’ore a man can master a horse he must : be master of himself.