VOICE. 169 



by one of these long-necked animals. By-the-bye, my 

 acquisition of this cup caused me to be branded as a 

 "circus rider" by the ladies in a Little Pedlington 

 village in this country ; for when the local society 

 leader called on me, I was out, and my son, by 

 way of entertaining her, showed her "the cup that 

 mother won in a circus ! " 



In order for the voice to be effective, the word 

 of command must be given at the moment when a 

 horse is about to play up in any way, not after he 

 has committed a fault, and therefore a knowledge of 

 horses and their ways is necessary before we can 

 use the voice properly. It is always advisable 

 to keep an eye on our mount, because if we 

 do not do so, we shall be unable to seize the 

 generally brief moment which exists between the 

 thought of evil in the animal's mind and its execution. 

 Those who have lived much among horses must have 

 frequently noticed this preparatory period before a 

 horse plays up, and no doubt have profited by the 

 warning their experienced eyes gave them ; for if we 

 see what is about to come, and know how to avert 

 it, we are often able to save ourselves from disaster. 



In order that the animal may thoroughly understand 

 our words of command, we should have as few of them 

 as possible, employ them only when necessary, and 

 always in the same respective tone of voice, whether it 

 be a soothing word of encouragement accompanied by 

 a few pats on the neck, or the word " steady " given 

 in a determined tone, and accompanied by a restraining 



