41: 



THE ODD-TOED ANIMALS. 



consists of a mixture of wool and hair; its mane is 

 short, erect and curly, and the hair of the tail also 

 partakes of a crinkly, curly character. During the 

 second year the hair becomes more lustrous, mane 

 and tail grow longer and less inclined to kink. After 

 this the age may be determined from the appear- 

 ance of the incisor teeth with tolerable correctness. 

 From eight to fourteen days after birth the two cen- 

 tral teeth, the so-called " nippers," make their ap- 

 pearance ; two or three weeks later another breaks 

 through at each side of the nippers. After five or six 

 months the lateral incisors pierce the gum and then 

 the colt has its full complement of milk-teeth. These 

 are in course of time replaced by the permanent teeth. 

 At the age of two and one-half years the "nippers" 

 are shed and replaced by new teeth; a year later 

 the next pair are supplanted, and after another year 

 the outermost incisors are changed. Simultaneously 

 with this last alteration the canines break through, 

 and this indicates that the development of the ani- 

 mal is completed. After the fifth year a person 

 wishing to judge of the age of a Horse, looks at the 

 hollows on the grinding surface of the teeth: black- 

 brown marks of the size of a small pea. They be- 

 i^in to disappear in the lower jaw at the age of five 

 or six years; in the middle incisors they are obliter- 

 ated in the seventh year, in the canines in the eighth 

 year; then the upper teeth are developed in like 

 order of succession, until all the marks have van- 

 ished by the eleventh or twelfth year. As age ad- 

 vances the teeth also gradually assume a different 

 shape; they become narrower as they grow older. 

 Another physical change noticeable in the animal is 

 the variation of its coat with the seasons. With the 

 access of the warm weather, usually beginning in the 

 spring of the year, the shaggy, furry coat of long 

 winter hair covering its body commences to fall out, 

 and is shed so rapidly that the bulk of it disappears 

 within a month or so. Gradually the hair is replaced 

 and it becomes perceptibly longer in the beginning 

 of September or October. The mane and tail remain 

 unchanged through all seasons. 



Diseases to Unfortunately the noble Horse is 

 Which the Horse subject to many diseases. The most 

 is Subject. important and serious of these are 

 the spavin, a swelling on the leg (generally induced 

 by a violent sprain) which affects the joint of the 

 knee or of the hock, and usually results in stiffness of 

 the leg; the farcy or " button," a swelling and hard- 

 ening of the glands beneath the jaw; the mange, a 

 dry or moist eruption, which causes the hair to fall 

 out; the glanders, a violent inflammation of the nasal 

 mucous membrane which also causes a hardening of 

 the glands beneath the jaw, and is extremely infec- 

 tious, and which may be communicated to human 

 beings; the mad staggers, an acute inflammation of 

 the brain, and the blind staggers, a somewhat similar, 

 though less violently manifested disease, induced by 

 apoplexy (or congestion of blood in the brain); the 

 gray and black cataract and others. Besides all this 

 the animal is subject to the torments of internal and 

 external parasites. 



A Horse may attain an age of forty years and 

 over, but frequently is so ill treated that it is old at 

 the age of twenty; as a general rule it may be 

 affirmed that it is only in very rare cases that it lives 

 to be thirty years old. 



Scheitlin's Eulogy I leave to Scheitlin the pleasant 



of the Horse's task of speaking of qualities, habits 



Endowments. anc j peculiarities, in short, of the 



mental characteristics of Horses: "The Horse," says 



he, "has the power of discrimination in matters per- 

 taining to food, domicile, space, time, light, color, 

 shape, his family, his neighbors, friends, foes, ani- 

 mal companions, people and objects. He has the 

 gift of perception, imagination, memory and mani- 

 fold sensations induced by a number of conditions 

 of body and mind. Circumstances strike him as 

 agr.eeable or disagreeable, and he is capable of either 

 being satisfied with given surroundings or else desir- 

 ing different environment, and even of love and 

 hatred. His great intelligence is easily changed to 

 skill; for the Horse is exceedingly docile. His mem- 

 ory and good-nature render it possible to teach him 

 all the tricks of the Elephant, Ass or Dog. He can 

 solve riddles, answer questions, say "yes" and "no" 

 by moving his head, designate the time on a clock 

 by striking his foot, etc. He correctly interprets 

 movements of his teacher's hands and feet, under- 

 stands the swinging of a whip and the meaning of 

 words, really having a small dictionary by heart. 

 He feigns death, first stands listless, with widespread 

 legs and hanging head, then staggers, slowly sinks 

 down, falls like a log and lies upon the ground as if 

 dead; one may sit on him, stretch his legs, pull his 

 tail, poke a finger into his sensitive skin without 

 result; but if a hint be given that the poundmaster is 

 to be sent for, he jumps up and is quite lively and 

 animated again. One can not see that he likes the 

 trick he has to repeat so often; he delights only in 

 running and jumping. How long will he have to 

 be taught until he learns how to jump through two 

 large hoops, covered with paper and placed at a 

 distance from each other? We are not surprised 

 that a human being can and will learn, but we won- 

 der that a Horse can learn. One really must not 

 say: 'What can he learn'-'' but: 'What can he not 

 learn? ' 



"He who wishes to teach a Horse anything 

 human must, in the beginning at least, teach him 

 humanely, that is, not by blows, threats or hunger, 

 but with kind words, exactly as a kind, intelligent 

 Man treats another kind, intelligent Man. As a rule 

 Horses are perfect prototypes of children in their 

 good and bad qualities. Besides his sense of local- 

 ity, the Horse also has an idea of time. He learns 

 to walk to music, to trot, gallop and dance. He 

 also knows the greater divisions of time, whether it 

 is morning, noon or night. He does not even lack 

 a perception of harmony. Like a warrior, he is fond 

 of the exciting clangor of the trumpet. Joyfully he 

 paws the ground with his fore-feet when the trumpet 

 resounds as a signal for a race or a battle; he also 

 knows and understands the signals given by the 

 drum and all sounds which present an association 

 of ideas to his courage or his fears. He knows the 

 thundering noise of cannon, but when he sees the 

 lacerated carcasses of companions killed in battle, 

 he evinces dread and repugnance. 



"The Horse is very susceptible to fear, in this 

 respect resembling a human being. He starts at a 

 sudden sound, an unusual object, a waving flag, a 

 garment hanging in a window. He carefully looks 

 at the ground covered with stones, and treads 

 cautiously when entering a river. He is thoroughly 

 awed by lightning. During a thunderstorm he per- 

 spires from fear, perhaps the dread of being struck. 

 When two are harnessed together and one attempts 

 to run away, the other, if he be not also frightened, 

 can hold him back; usually, however, both are simul- 

 taneously seized by terror, and run in ever increas- 

 ing panic, rushing over and through every possible 



