THE HORSE 5 



moved. At the sound of her master's voice she 

 knew all was well, and allowed him to remove the 

 child to safety. Now, that animal understood and 

 could reason. 



Turning to sadder things, how very seldom a horse 

 will injure a drunken man. No matter if he is riding 

 or driving him, instinctively the horse takes all the 

 responsibility, and carefully finds his way home with- 

 out mishap. 



Again, horses will always strive to avoid treading 

 on a fallen rider. How often we hear or read : ' It 

 seemed for a few awful moments that the man down 

 among the horse's feet must be trampled or kicked 

 to death.' If the fallen man is hurt at all, it is from 

 want of room and the impossibility for the animal or 

 animals to move without causing injury, especially if 

 the fall has stunned the man. 



Now just one instance of a horse's memory, and 

 then I will proceed to consider the best methods of 

 treating and caring for him. Months ago I lent 

 a horse to a friend to ride, one never needing whip 

 or spur, a very fleet and willing animal. My friend 

 mounted him fully equipped with both instruments 

 of torture (when misapplied), and on this occasion 

 he very much misapplied them : he rode hard and 

 worried the poor creature almost beyond endurance, 

 and after a long ride both returned fairly ' pumped.' 

 About eight months later I again offered the same 

 gentleman the same horse. Being an honest and 

 well-disposed animal, he allowed himself to be 

 mounted, but feeling the spurs once more, he resented 

 them promptly ; his rider dismounted and took them 

 off, but retained his whip. Mounting again, the 

 horse instantly bolted. After a hard fight my friend 

 changed horses with another rider. Later in the 

 day he tried to mount his first horse, but the animal 

 would have none of it. As soon as he touched the 



