16 THE HORSE 



sense, meaning the power to reason from acquired 

 knowledge. The horse is one of the least responsive 

 animals, so far as mental training is concerned. 

 Ordinarily, a horse is required to know but little, and 

 this little is drilled into him, and his obedience is the 

 result of habit rather than of intelligent comprehen- 

 sion. 



"For common farm use, the training or 'breaking' 

 requires very little time and pains. Once ' broken ' he 

 then is ready to be trained. By the most painstaking 

 effort, long continued, he may acquire certain habits 

 which may remain with him, and usually do, through 

 life, but such habits are in no way an indication of 

 high intelligence. The horse used on a milk- wagon, for 

 instance, which makes frequent stops, for ever after 

 retains this habit. It often requires weeks and months 

 to develop a ' trick ' horse. 



"Some writers on the subject declare that no reliance 

 can be placed on the effect of sounds when educating 

 the horse. However, any sound which has been long 

 used to indicate a particular performance, in time 

 enforces obedience to such sound and establishes a 

 habit, as, for instance, the bugle blast of cavalry or 

 the fire alarm of an engine-house. 



"The marvelous feats of some trained horses are 

 simply enforced habits, and are usually guided by some 

 motion of the attendant rather than by sound. So 

 markedly is this the case, that a good horse -trainer 

 gives commands in a single word, as a command to 

 stop, to start, to rear or to lie down. The horse cannot 

 learn to receive two commands at the same time. 



