14 MENTAL QUALITIES OF THE HORSE. 



my companion, ' that horse appreciates the principle of the 

 inclined plane.' I begged him to explain exactly what he 

 meant by this expression. ' He sees/ said my friend, ' that 

 the less the slope, the less intense, if more prolonged; the 

 labour to raise the load through a given height.' I told 

 him that my own view was that the poor animal was quite 

 unable to perceive the relation between the slope and the 

 labour, and to think, ' the less the slope the less the labour.' 

 Now I have noticed that when I am breasting a steep 

 grassy mountain slope, I have a tendency to slew off to 

 right or left, and thus to lighten my labour." We all, no 

 doubt, can easily call to mind many other instances of 

 mechanically advantageous results being obtained, even by 

 ourselves, automatically, and, consequently, without the 

 exercise of reasoning power. 



Experience proves that the intelligence of the horse is 

 small as compared to that of the ape, monkey, dog, or 

 elephant ; although his memory is as good, if not better 

 than theirs. Our great difficulty in teaching the horse 

 arises from his dulness in associating cause and effect. 



The chief difference between the mind of the horse and 

 that of man, is that instinct is far more highly developed, 

 and intelligence proportionately less developed, in him than 

 in us. His mind has, not very correctly, been compared 

 to that of a young child, whose instinct, however, is greatly 

 inferior to that of the horse, even if the child be in no way 

 superior to the horse in the matter of intelligence. 



SPECIAL INSTINCTS AND SENSES. 



The term, instinct of self-preservation, is used to express 

 a large number of instincts which serve to nourish the 

 animal's body and to protect it from danger, for which 

 duty we have love of freedom or impatience of control, fear 

 of surroundings, anger or resentment against inflicted or 



