2o8 Modern Riding and Horse Education 



previous work, " Illustrated Horse Breaking," he 

 states that he has not been able to trace any indica- 

 tion of reasoning power in a horse, by which he 

 shows that he was not very clear in his own mind 

 on the subject. 



Mr. E. T. Brewster has told us, in an interesting 

 article in McClure's Magazine on the " Animal Mind 

 From Inside," that the reason why the horse is so 

 generally useful is far from complimentary to that 

 noble animal. This is what he says. '' He (the 

 horse) possesses just the right degree of stupidity. 

 If he were stupider he would be less plastic to ac- 

 quire convenient habits. If he were cleverer he 

 would acquire too many habits for himslf, and live 

 too much his own life, like that particularly clever 

 animal, the cat. The brightest children, likewise, are 

 sometimes the hardest to bring up." There is no 

 doubt that the brightest horses are the hardest to 

 train, but like the bright children they give the best 

 results if trouble is taken with their education. 



I myself humbly agree with Cesaresco, Whyte 

 Melville, and others on the subject. Now, the best 

 way to make use of the horse's brain is to teach him 

 to understand the voice, and though Hayes and 



