8 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



room on Christmas night, in the animal's professional 

 capacity, and the consequent results to the china, will 

 occur to the reader as a similar case. But although 

 such instances must necessarily be rare, and are not, 

 perhaps, exactly to be imitated, it is possible for 

 ever} 7 horse-owner to cultivate the social and affec- 

 tionate side of the animal's nature by talking to and 

 caressing him, by visiting him in the stable, by mak- 

 ing him little gifts, from time to time, of sugar and 

 other dainties. Petting like this undoubtedly tends 

 to render high-spirited horses more tractable and safer 

 on the road than they would be otherwise. 



Mustangs that have been allowed to run wild on the 

 prairies until they are brought to the East and sold 

 can rarely be broken so as to be safe in harness ; but 

 ponies of the same breed that have been in actual use 

 by the Indians are very trustworthy. Such ponies, 

 like Arab horses, have become domesticated, and cease 

 to regard human beings as their natural enemies. 



Few persons, moreover, realize how much a nervous, 

 timid horse dislikes to be left alone, especially amid 

 terrifvins 1 or even unusual surroundings. I once 

 brought on a steamer from Portland to Boston a 

 high-strung Morgan mare that I had owned but two 

 weeks. She had never travelled thus before, and 

 during the first hour or two. if I left her alone for 

 a moment, as happened once or twice, she became 

 distressed and alarmed in the highest degree, sweat- 

 ing profusely and struggling to get loose ; but when I 

 returned she would immediately become calm again, 

 rubbing her nose against me as much as to say, " For 

 Heaven's sake, don't leave me alone." The same 

 horse (I have her still), when tied in front of a 



