the neck down to the fetlock you
may do what you please. But many horses and even colts have a most
dangerous trick of striking out with their fore-legs. There is no better
protection against this than a cart-wheel. The wheel may either be used
loose, or the animal may be led up to a cart loaded with hay, when the
horse-tamer can work under the cart through one of the wheels, while the
colt is nibbling the load.

Having, then, so far soothed a colt that he will permit you to take up
his legs without resistance, take the strap No. 1[73-*]--pass the tongue
through the loop under the buckle so as to form a noose, slip it over
the near fore-leg and draw it close up to the pastern-joint, then take
up the leg as if you were going to shoe him, and passing the strap over
the fore-arm, put it through the buckle, and buckle the lower limb as
close as you can to the arm without hurting the animal.

[Illustration: STRAP NO. 1.]

Take care that your buckle is of the very best quality, and the leather
sound. It is a good plan to stretch it before using it. The tongues of
buckles used for this purpose, if not of the very best quality, are very
likely to come out, when all your labour will have to be gone over
again. Sometimes you may find it better to lay the loop open on the
ground, and let the horse step into it. It is better the buckle should
be inside the leg if you mean the horse to fall toward you, because then
it is easier to unbuckle when he is on the ground.

In those instances in which you have had no opportunity of previously
taming and soothing a colt, it will frequently take you an hour of
quiet, patient, silent perseverance before he will allow you to buckle
up his leg--if he resists you have nothing for it but _patience_. You
must stroke him, you must fondle him, until he lets you enthral him. Mr.
Rarey always works alone, and disdains assistance, and so do some of his
best pupils, Lord B., the Marquis of S., and Captain S. In travelling in
foreign countries you may have occasion to tame a colt or wild horse
alone, but there is no reason why you should not have assistance if you
can get it, and in that case the process is of course much easier. But
it must never be forgotten that to tame a horse properly no unnecessary
force must be employed; it is better that he should put down his foot
six times that he may yield it willingly at last, and under no
circumstances must the trainer lose patience, or give way to temper