1S90 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



719 



with God's plans we may b(i sure a tilcssi'i;? will 

 follow. 



A few days ago a horse was wanted to pull 

 brick, by means of a i)ulley, to the top of an 

 elevated reservoir. One of the Clydesdales 

 hapixMieti to be in the stable. The man who 

 usually handles him was away with tlu^ other. 

 The (piestion was asked if it would be safe to 

 set .lack at that woi'k. A wrong move might 

 endanger the lives of the workinen on the seaf- 

 fold. I told them that .lack would be perfectly 

 safe if a good man would stantl by him till he 

 comprehended what was wanted of him. As 

 his surroundings were strange, and his daily 

 coini)anion was absent, he seemed at lirst a lit- 

 tle tidgetv: but Icarefull>' exi)lained to him (you 

 need nol smile at this) w hat he was to do: and 

 aftei' he had taken half a dozen trips he stopped 

 promptly when the mason called fi'om the top 

 of the tower to hold on: and in tifteen minutes 

 moi'e. to the mei'riment of the boys, .Jack, after 

 hearing the call. " Hold on I" turned around with 

 his whilHetree and marched back' to the point 

 of stalling, without an\' help fi'om any one. 

 The mason now called from the top of the tow- 

 er, saying that we should put a little bit of white 

 board on the grass, right where .lack was to 

 stop, and that the hors(^ would walk right up to 

 that board, and stop eveiy time. This he did 

 all the rest of the day, without making a singl(> 

 mistake or blunder. It was evident that he 

 kept watch of the movements, for he locjked up 

 to the top of the towei' occasionally, as if he 

 were taking in the whoh' plan of proceedings. 

 1 would rather have a smart horse for my hel])er 

 than a dull man. The hoi'se generallx' has his 

 mind on his work, and knows what is going on. 

 while the man sometimes does not. 



Now. there is one point I think I must take 

 up in this paper, or else some of my good friends 

 who know more about horses than I do might 

 call a good deal of my talk all " folderol." It 

 is this: While kindness and gentleness and love 

 are always in order, firmness and tiecision are 

 also needed almost constantly. A few days ago 

 we wanted the Clydesdales to ))ull a stick of 

 timber ui) to the larg<' underground reservoir. 

 Tliei'(> was a roadway down into it. where they 

 draw out the dirt, and tin- horses evidently took 

 it foi- granted that the driver meant to drive 

 ihem down into that fearful hole. JJc knew 

 what he wanted, but tlifij didn"t. Thi-y began 

 to snoi't and prance, and Hnally oih' tui'ned one 

 way and one the other. I^ines and ti'aces were 

 getting ])adly tangled. Three or four men took 

 hold of them, and tried to straighten them out: 

 but what can a man do w ith a hoise of such 

 ti'emendous weight and sti'ength? Why. a 

 man's strength would l)e as nt)thing. and 1 ex- 

 jjected to see a regular smash-up. The di'iver 

 gathered up his lines, and. with a yell, com- 

 manded the horses to straighten out. hitting 

 them a good clip by way of emi)hasis. His 

 \()ice. w liich they knew, was of more weight to 

 them then than all the men whom they did not 

 hnoir. and they straightened out in their places 

 in a twinkling. They trembled with excite- 

 ment: but for all that, they obeyed orders. A 

 thousand times, valuable hunuin life might 

 have been saved by i)rom|)t enei'gy and deci- 

 sion, by the tree \ise of the whip, oi- perhaps a 

 ■club, or any thing that could be got hold of. to 

 let thi'm know who is master: and a man oi' 

 woman who would complain of cruelty to ani- 

 mals under such circumstances, issimjjly w<'ak 

 and childish. Of coui'se. the driver should hold 

 his tenipei'. and not a single blow should he 

 sti'uck moi'e than is necessary to enforce oliedi- 

 <'nce: and under no circumstances should they 

 be pounded or whipjx'd after they have been 

 made to obey. Old Chai'lie draws kindling- 

 wood evei'y afternoon. The new building, how- 



eviM', has cut otf his icgulai' |)ath so that he has 

 to back around in order to load up the kindling. 

 Hut this could be managed easily if he would 

 go intoanari'ow alley and back u]) until his nose 

 nearly touches the new building. His drivi-r 

 said he couUl not make him do it. I told liim 

 he must w hip him until he did do it. He said 

 whipping did not do any good. By my ordei's 

 he showed me how he acteil. Charlie w<'nt al- 

 most far enough, then pranced and snoited. and. 

 in spite of tlie whipping, he hacked the wagon 

 the wrong w ay. and smashed it into some othei' 

 thing's w hei'c he might have done injui'y. I 

 looked aroiuid until I found just w hat I want- 

 ed. It was a narrow strip of barrel-stave. 

 Charlie saw what I had: but he had evidently 

 made up his mind that he was not going up oii 

 that walk'. e\-en for inc. i told him where to go. 

 and led him tip. Jlestopix'd as before, and I gave 

 him one pretty good whack on his great fat 

 haunches. He went ahead a little furtlier, and 

 then threw u]) his head and liegan to back as 

 before. Then I gave him such a slap it mad«^ 

 him grunt a little. IJut he was not quite con- 

 quered. The thii'd blow I gave with all my 

 might, and he walkeil up as meek and obedi- 

 ent as a child. Since then he goes right up in 

 that place without anymore foolish actions and 

 display of his notions and stubbornness. Now. 

 a horse, like a child, sometimes enjoys this sort 

 of fun — a conflict w ith authorit\'. It is rare fun 

 for him to discoNci' that his master has not 

 force and decision enough to make him do what 

 he ought to do: and it is like cows with a bro- 

 ken fence. The more tim(>s they jumj) f)ver. the 

 more and the higher they ti'\' to get over after 

 it has been fixed. This (pu'stion of who is go- 

 ing to boss things is sure to come up sooner or 

 later between the horse and the owner. The 

 owner should be cai'eful about insisting on any 

 thing that endangers the horse's safety. He 

 should also bewai'e of giving command where 

 he is not well prepared to enforce obedience. 

 Horses have better memoi'ies than we do. I 

 have sometimes thought, too. that they have a 

 n'ondcrfitl faculty for taking a man's full di- 

 mensions. Let a stranger take hold of the lines 

 or attempt to give orders, and they vei'n soon 

 decide how much " lord of creation "" there is in 

 this new mastei- or new driver. Now, do you 

 suppose a horse thinks fcs.sof you when he finds 

 that you are not to be trifled with, and are fully 

 compet(Mit to iMile? Why. bless you. no. It is 

 with a horse as with a child. His love foi' you 

 is in close relationship to his i-cspect for you. 

 He loves the hand that nitiLcs hlni ini}id. a 

 hundred times betti'r than the one who lets him 

 liave his own way in a feeltle. helpless sort of 

 mannei'. 



Now. tlear fi'iend. whose eye rests on these 

 iniges, if you have any thing to do with horses. 

 |)lease look upon them as one of (rod's most 

 ])recious gifts. Do not scrimp them in feed: do 

 not scrimp them in nice pure water. Take pains 

 to cai'iy them thi' ajjple peelings and coi'cs — 

 that is. if you can not afford to give them whole 

 apples. If th(>y like jjotatoes. as >nke and 

 Charlie do— yes. and Hilly (he is the one that 

 ate the jjeck when they were *1. 20 a bushel), 

 give them the small potato-p<'<'liiigs. Sift out 

 fhi' dii't so they will be nice and clean, (iive 

 tiiem the sweet corn after the ears are plucked, 

 and all the dainties that they like, that the 

 house atfords. Teach the children to love them 

 and care for them: but at the same time, if you 

 would win their I'espect as w<'ll as their love, 

 teacli them to be oiu'dient. He patient and 

 lonn-siiffcrini) with your horse. He knows 

 wlien you give way to temper, just as well as 

 any human being knows: and you sink in his 

 estimation the minute you do so. He kn()ws 

 when vou strike him oi'scold him for soniet hing 



