

TEACHING TRICKS 159 



tricks is not nearly so difficult as the average person 

 imagines. The most essential thing necessary for a 

 trainer to possess is an unlimited amount of patience 

 and a great deal of self-control. The horses we see and 

 so admire on the stage have been taught their interesting 

 tricks not in a single hour, or a single day, but by per- 

 sistent effort on the part of the trainer, repetition after 

 repetition, unti] the trick is almost a part of the horse. 

 When the whole thing is summed up, it is simply this : 

 the teaching of tricks is merely the forming of unusual 

 habits, 



The confidence lesson is the lesson on which you 

 begin teaching tricks. This lesson must be given the 

 horse first of all, and must be thoroughly understood. 

 Another thing always to bear in mind is that when 

 teaching any trick, no matter how insignificant it might 

 appear to be, it is very essential that you give the first 

 lesson in an enclosure and on the very same spot each 

 time. This enables the horse to grasp your idea much 

 more quickly. When the horse will perform his trick 

 thoroughly he can be taken to other grounds, and 

 a little repetition is sometimes necessary to make him 

 just as obedient there. After he has been taught to 

 perform his trick at several places he will do the act 

 regardless of where he is. 



