54 HORSES 



words that can be understood by a horse are 

 ^'Whoa!" and ^^ Come up!" and he uses these 

 to attain a variety of ends, so that it is no wonder 

 the poor animal gets confused. 



The general idea of ''Whoa !" is that it is an order 

 to stop or come to a halt; and yet people are 

 continually using it when the words '' Steady ! " or 

 ''Gently !" would be more applicable. If you wish 

 to be successful with horses every word you use 

 to them should have its distinct meaning, and that 

 meaning should never be varied. 



Although we can make horses understand in 

 time what we require them to do when we use 

 certain words, we ought not to blame their intelli- 

 gence because they appear slow in taking these in, 

 as sounds made by the human voice are unnatural 

 to equine ears. With all our superior brain power, 

 no one has yet discovered the meaning of one 

 word in any animal's language, the reason being 

 that our ears are not sufficiently quick to dis- 

 tinguish the difference in sounds.^ 



In my experience I have found that the in- 

 flexions of the human voice are more readily 

 appreciated by animals than particular words. By 

 this I mean they know at once if you talk to them 

 in harsh or scolding tones, and equally understand 

 when you speak kindly. There are some men who 



^ The more I watch wild birds, especially at the breeding season, 

 the more I incline to a belief that some species, small and large, have 

 a considerable language of their own, and that words in bird land 

 sometimes vary in meaning according to the manner and circumstances 

 in which they are uttered. — Ed. 



