"Accustom horse to harness in stable." In conclusion, a few hints as to breaking a horse to harness may be useful to those who have had no experience in giving a young horse his first lessons. In the first place, it is a good plan to put the harness on in the stable, and let the horse stand with it on for a time, with his head on the pillar reins.

In India I found that with Australian horses, even those trained to military draught, it was absolutely necessary to accustom them to blinkers before attempting to drive them. They should be made to stand in their stables, fed and taken out to water, and exercised with blinkers on, previously to their being driven for the first time, otherwise they will almost invariably jib.

"Longeing with long reins." After the pupil is accustomed to his harness, he should be taken out and longed with two long reins (fig. 39), never with one only. These can be conveniently made of webbing, like a common single longeing rein, but the lead reins of a tandem will also answer the purpose. The horse should have a body roller on with two rings or loops about half way down each side, though an ordinary single-harness driving pad with the tugs on, or a saddle with the stirrup irons fixed up for loops, can be substituted. In all cases a crupper should be used.

"Use snaffle and martingale." It is always advisable to have a fairly loose standing martingale on the bit, which should be a large smooth snaffle, the martingale being so adjusted that it will keep the bit on the bars of the mouth, and will not allow the horse to get his head up sufficiently high to cause the bit to press only on the corners of his lips.

"Bearing-straps." It is also advisable to put on bearing-straps like those of a tandem leader, in order to keep up the reins. The long reins should be passed through the loops of the bearing-straps, then through the rings on the roller, the tugs on the pad, or the stirrup irons of the saddle, as the case may be, and then buckled on to the bit.

"Use whip when longeing." The horse can now be driven about and be kept up to his bit with the whip, which the operator should always have in his hand.

Keep him circling with the outer rein round his quarters above his hocks. This will teach him to go collectedly, and enable the driver to keep his quarters well in towards the centre, preventing him from passing off sideways like a crab. It is impossible to attain this object with a single rein, which also would have the effect of teaching him to go on his shoulders.

Another point about having the rein against the horse’s quarters is that it teaches him not to kick at the trace or breeching.

"Do not longe too long on one rein." If he should very much resent having the outer rein on his hocks, begin by driving him with this rein over his back. He should not be kept circling too long on one rein, but be often changed from one side to the other. If, however, one side of his mouth is harder than the other, he should be made to turn to that side for a longer period, until he turns equally well both ways.

When the horse has learnt to answer the rein at once, and turn equally well to both sides, he should be taught to rein back.

When this has been successfully accomplished, bring him out with his harness on and long traces like lead tandem traces.

"Have two men pulling against traces." Tell off two men to hang on to these while he is being driven about. By this means the amount of pressure can be regulated, and as only a small amount need be applied to begin with, the horse will become gradually accustomed to pulling with his shoulders. It is impossible to begin too gradually; although some horses can be taken out of the stable and put into a break or a coach at "Jibbing taught by undue hurry." once and will go fairly well, others will be rendered jibbers for ever by this too hurried process.

"Horse-breaking in India." In India a young horse is generally given his first lessons harnessed to a block of wood. The block of wood is triangular in shape, and in front of it is fixed a long splinter bar. The horse’s traces are hitched to this, and the breaker, standing on the block of wood, drives his pupil about until he is quiet enough to be put in a cart. A short pole, with a cross bar at the top like a parrot’s perch, is fixed to the front of the block, to enable the driver to steady himself and prevent his being jolted off.

This is not at all a bad way of breaking a horse, as he cannot do much harm by kicking or plunging, and the block being very light does not teach him to jib.

"Steady horse alongside youngster." The horse having been taught to pull is now quite fit to be driven in a break or cart. If possible, place him at first in a double break, with a steady old horse alongside of him, which will do all the starting by steady pulling and not by jumping into the collar. Many old break horses are quite up to watching the young one, and start accordingly.

Never forget to have a bearing-rein on, also kneecaps and bandages.

"Accustom to both sides of pole." Drive the youngster on both sides of the pole for a time, when he should be quite fit to put into a single-harness break or cart.

Always have a rope halter on a young horse under the bridle the first few times that he is put to. If he is likely to be very violent, two halters may be put on, and you can then have a man leading him on each side.

"Take young horse among traffic." It is far better to drive him where there is some traffic than along a deserted country road, for he will go much better if he sees other things moving about, as they will distract his attention, and keep him from playing tricks on the driver.

"Exercise before giving lesson." It is advisable to have him well exercised before attempting to give him any of the above lessons.

"Breaking in single cart." Supposing that there is no double break available, use a strong light cart with extra strong shafts instead; but a heavy cart with no springs is bad, as it will make a rattling noise and possibly frighten the novice, while its weight may teach him to jib.

In this case put a good strong kicking-strap on, but be careful not to buckle it down too tight, or it will catch his quarters if he should canter, and perhaps induce him to kick.

The bearing-rein must be loose, but tight enough to prevent him from getting his head close in to his chest. A loose martingale may also be added if the horse has a tendency to put his head up; fasten this to the nose-band.

"Two men to assist in putting to." Have a couple of men to hold him, and try and put him in without the shafts touching him anywhere. Hold the shafts well up, and get the horse as nearly under them as possible, and quite straight in front of the cart; then lower them quietly and run the cart up, passing the points of the shafts through the tugs.

"Hook traces before buckling kicking-strap." Next hook the traces and buckle the kicking-strap on as quickly as possible. One man should be kept standing in front of the horse and holding his head the whole time, and he should never move away until the driver is ready to start. It is a good plan at this stage to lead the horse about by the rope halter, with a man on each side ready to assist, while the driver walks with the reins in his hand on the off side of the cart. He can thus guide him without getting up, while the weight which the horse has to pull to begin with is materially reduced.

"When quiet get up into cart." If he goes along all right, mount into the cart and drive him about, keeping a man running alongside for a little, when, if he continues to go well, the man can jump up behind. If he should be inclined to jib, have him led on at once, but do not hit him. Never let the man lead him by the rein, but invariably by the nose-band or halter. "Turning lesson." When he has gone well for some distance on the straight, teach him to turn. Begin by turning him if possible on a very large circle. If this cannot be done, have him led round very slowly, the man pushing the outer shaft at the same time to assist him, as in turning the inner one is bound to catch him on the shoulder, when he will most probably passage off sideways or rein back and get frightened.

"How to start a jibber." With a horse that continues to jib from sheer cussedness, I have found that strapping up one leg, and making him stand still until he is tired out, will often induce him to start off perfectly quietly as soon as the leg has been released.

A rope crupper may also be tried with good effect. This is formed by taking an inch rope about sixteen feet long and doubling it. The loop is tied by a thumb-over-hand knot, forming a crupper about two feet long. Pass the loop under the tail and bring the ends forward, one on each side; then put a man to pull on each of these ends, and the horse will most probably move forward at once.

This system is a very useful one for getting refractory horses into a stable or loose box. In Ireland it is a common practice to rub some gravel in a jibber’s mouth, and this appears to be effective at times.

When a horse is inclined to kick on first being put in harness, he can often be prevented, if not cured, by holding, or even tying up a leg, as in the case of a jibber.

"How to guard against pulling." If the horse is likely to be a hard puller, it is a good plan to have a Liverpool bit in his mouth, with two pairs of reins, one buckled to the cheek and the other to the bar, the latter only being used to check him if he is pulling too hard.

"Lessons must be continuous." The lessons must be continued without intermission daily for some considerable time, or else it will be found that the pupil very soon forgets what he has been taught.

"How to fix up reins when taking out of cart." At the conclusion of the lesson, after getting out of the cart, place the reins over the off terret to prevent them from falling on to the ground when the horse is being led into the stable. Take care that the spare parts, which hang down on each side of the terret, are well in front of the stop on the shaft; otherwise, if the horse should by any chance jump to the front while the cart is being run back, "Rein catching apt to cause an accident." the rein may get caught round the stop and give a sharp jerk to the horse’s mouth, which will probably frighten him.

Horses that have once been frightened in this way seldom forget it, and are apt to plunge forward directly they think they are clear of the traces, which is a constant source of accidents, as the horse may only get half out of the shafts, and then he will probably bolt. For this reason the kicking-strap must always be unbuckled before the traces are unhooked.

"How to prevent horse plunging forward out of shafts." The best way of breaking a horse of this very bad habit is to drive him straight up to a wall, or into a corner where he cannot jump forward; then unhook the traces and run the cart back.

"Accustom horse to bars in stable." A horse that is to be driven in the lead of a team can be to some degree accustomed to the bars, by having one tied on so as to hang down and touch him just above his hocks when standing in the stable.

In conclusion, I would remind the reader that “Prevention is better than cure,” and in breaking a horse to harness every precaution should be taken from the very beginning of his education, for when a young horse has once been hurt or frightened, it is a very difficult thing to persuade him that the same thing may not occur again, and many a naturally quiet and generous horse is ruined for harness work, or rendered nervous for life, simply owing to carelessness or to want of ordinary precautions during his first two or three lessons.

The beginner who has mastered the foregoing pages will, I trust, find that he is thoroughly grounded in the theory and principles of driving, and his interest will, I hope, be roused to such an extent as to induce him so to turn theory into practice, that with time and perseverance he will develop into a neat and skilful whip.