40 NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



read Black Beauty. How much time is devoted to these 

 topics must depend largely on local conditions and on the 

 interests and resources of the class. 



The intelligent and humane taming of so powerful an 

 animal is perhaps the point of chief interest. We often 

 hear of ''breaking" a horse instead of ** taming" it, and 

 a poor spiritless thing is apt to result. The best story in 

 this connection is the following, a very old one ; but it 

 may still serve as an inspiration to every child as long as 

 horses exist. 



Philonicus of Thessaly had offered to sell Philip his horse 

 Bucephalus for thirteen talents. So they all went down into the 

 plain to try the animal. He proved, however, to be balky and 

 utterly useless. He would let no one mount him, and none of the 

 attendants of Philip could make him hear to him, but he violently 

 resisted them all. Philip, in his disgust, ordered the horse led away 

 as being utterly wild and untrained. Whereat, Alexander, who was 

 present, said : " That is too good a horse for those men to spoil that 

 way, simply because they have n't the skill or the grit to handle him 

 right." At first Philip paid no attention to him, but as he kept 

 insisting on being heard and seemed greatly disturbed about the 

 matter, his father said to him : " What do you mean by criticizing 

 your elders, as if you were wiser than they, or knew so much more 

 about handling a horse than they do? " " Well, this horse, anyway, 

 I would handle better than any one else, if they would give me a 

 chance." "In case you don't succeed," rejoined his father, "what 

 penalty are you willing to pay for your freshness ? " "I '11 pay, by 

 Jove, the price of the horse ! " Laughter greeted this answer, but 

 after some bantering with his father about the money arrangements, 

 he went straight to the horse, took him by the bridle, and turned 

 him around toward the sun. This he did on the theory that the 

 horse's fright was due to seeing his own shadow dance up and down 

 on the ground before him. He then ran along by his side awhile, 

 patting and coaxing him, until, after a while, seeing he was full of 



