INTERMITTENT LAMENESS 



the possession of, at all events, a certain amount of intelli- 

 gence. No doubt a horse's brain is, comparatively speaking, 

 small ; but it is unfair, all the same, to stigmatise as a fool an 

 animal which is capable of learning the tricks which circus 

 horses perform every day, especially as it is known that the 

 majority of these accomplishments are due to the promptings 

 the animals receive from their trainers, which fact goes far 

 to prove that they possess the power of profiting by in- 

 struction, and therefore must be more or less intelligent. 

 It may be argued, too, on behalf of the horse, that from 

 his first domestication it has been the desire of successive 

 generations of owners to prevent him having any will of 

 his own, and consequently the amount of intelligence he 

 originally possessed cannot fail to have become diminished 

 by absence of use. All dog-breakers unite in the opinion 

 that it is far easier to train a puppy, the parents and ancestors 

 of which have been broken ; and the well-known case of a 

 famous breeder of thoroughbreds who made the experiment 

 of breeding from unbroken mares, and abandoned the prac- 

 tice because the waywardness of his yearlings got them a 

 bad name amongst trainers, may be quoted as showing that 

 the results of not developing latent intelligence are unsatis- 

 factory. Even in his stable a horse has to spend practically 

 all his time gazing at the wall in front of him, if he is in 

 a stall, and as many loose boxes are isolated, and he is not 

 as a rule allowed to look out, he is afforded no opportunity 

 of developing brain power ; whilst out-of-doors the slightest 

 disposition he displays to act for himself is met by correction. 

 It appears impossible, therefore, to deny a horse the gift 

 of natural intelligence; in fact, all things considered, it is 

 surprising that many members of the equine race are as 

 clever as they are. (See Brain, Instinct, Memory^ 



Intermittent Lameness is a source of annoyance to 

 most owners at one time or another, as many horses possess 

 an irritating habit of going lame every now and then from 

 some unascertainable cause. In the majority of cases rheu- 



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