14 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[chap. 



the water. The Press stated : " As fast as she 

 pumped, the cattle around would drink up the 

 water ; but she would continue until every one 

 had had enough, when she would fill the trough, 

 have her drink, and go away contented. When 

 we arrived on the scene she stopped and pawed 

 at the ground, and looked at us as if to say, 

 'Please do this for me.' There have been a 

 number of examples of horse-sense, but this is 

 the most impressive that we have come across." 



The Horse's Memory 



50. The horse's memory is most extraordi- 

 nary, and it is upon this faculty that we base 

 his education. In no way is the existence of his 

 extraordinary memory so clearly evident as in 

 the manner in which he notices fresh objects. 

 I have taken a horse along a certain street for 

 the first time ; the horse, knowing it to be a 

 strange street, has not shied at anything, yet in 

 taking him along the same street two months 

 afterwards he has shied and shown fear at a 

 house, and even a box placed on the side of the 

 street which was not there before. There were 

 similar boxes in other places on the first day, 

 but he took no notice of them. 



Again, I took a horse along a road and 

 around a bend where there was a heap of old 

 machinery, at which the horse shied. Two 

 months afterwards, on going along the same 

 road, when this horse approached this corner, 

 he hesitated and held up his head and prepared 

 to shy — but the machinery was gone. 



However far you take an intelligent horse 

 through various streets of a strange city, he will 

 always know, saving in exceptional cases, when 

 he turns his head towards home. If one take 

 a horse over miles of strange prairie land, 

 making turning after turning, and let him 

 loose, he will find his way back to his home. 

 This is due to a peculiar natural instinct for 

 direction and his wonderful memory. 



51. If a horse has once been cruelly ill- 

 treated by a man, he will never forget that man. 

 I know of a stallion which was shamefully 

 mutilated by a man ; five years later he met this 

 man when he was at liberty, and, but for a 

 stunning blow on the horse's head from an 

 assistant, this man would have been killed — and 

 would have got his deserts. As it was, he was 

 badly mauled. 



If a horse has experienced fear, or has been 

 hurt by an object, he remembers it and seeks 

 to escape from it the next time he sees it. If 

 this fear is great, and he is afterwards forced 

 to approach the object, his fear is only in- 

 creased ; if, however, he is taken slowly up to 

 it by gentle encouragement, day after day, his 

 growing familiarity with the sensation produced 

 will diminish his objection. 



52. The faculty of horses being able to realise 



which side they are on in war is an example 

 of the wonderful instinct the horse possesses. 

 I believe this is also due to his memory and to 

 a certain power of reasoning. History tells us 

 of various instances where the horse has refused 

 to allow one of the enemy to mount him, and 

 where he has returned riderless to his own lines 

 after having been lost and having passed 

 through a number of the enemy's lines. The 

 following is an excellent example of this 

 faculty : A Scotsman, Major MacDonald, having 

 killed an English officer in battle (1745), took 

 possession of his horse. The horse, in spite of 

 the efforts of his rider, galloped back to the 

 English lines and reached the head of his own 

 regiment, to the place in which he had been 

 accustomed to moving. Macdonald was then 

 captured. 



53. The horse is generally sociable, like most 

 men, and this trait can be turned to good 

 account, for he will follow another horse into 

 the water, approach near to a motor-car if an- 

 other horse is between him and the car. In 

 some horses the affection for man is greater than 

 that for the horse, and the presence of a man 

 in front will produce a wonderful effect. Some 

 horses hate all other horses, and try to kick and 

 bite at them whenever they get an opportunity. 



I remember one horse that showed its affec- 

 tion very strongly. For some weeks it was 

 turned out in the pasture-field, and on several 

 occasions while I was walking and talking near 

 the field the horse would recognise my voice 

 and come over to the fence and put its head 

 over. I never fed this horse in the field. 



Some horses are very proud and like to 

 attract attention. It is a well-known fact that 

 many horses will never make a good perform- 

 ance unless before a large audience. A horse 

 neighs to attract attention ; he likes being 

 noticed and being made much of. He shows 

 envy if another horse is fed or made much of 

 while he is neglected. This may cause him to 

 feel hatred towards the other horse. Jealousy 

 in an entire horse is generally more marked. 



54. Some horses are obstinate, but as a rule 

 this obstinacy is due to bad early training and 

 to excessive exuberance of spirits. Obstinacy is 

 less common amongst well-bred horses generally. 



A horse is usually courageous unless he has 

 been ruined by bad training ; cases are known 

 where horses have fought wild beasts, such as 

 lions and tigers, in self-defence. 



There is no reason why the entire horse 

 should not be as docile as a mare or gelding, 

 provided he is brought up with suitable sur- 

 roundings. The Arab entire that is brought up 

 almost as one of the family is perfectly docile, 

 and usually constitutes the Arab's saddle hor.se. 



The horse has a disposition to copy what 

 he sees. For instance, an idea comes to him to 

 gallop when he sees other horses galloping, or 



