THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE MAN 17 



"The surface nerves, rather than sound of the human 

 voice, are used almost exclusively for training horses. 

 The slightest pressure or touch may be the command. 

 The ranch -horse obeys a touch of the rider's leg far 

 more certainly and quickly than he does any vocal 

 command. In fact, so true is this, that the expert horse- 

 man seldom speaks to his animal, but restrains or cheers 

 or guides him simply by utilizing the surface nerves 

 of his body." 1 



It is the intelligence of the man, after all, rather 

 than the intelligence of the horse, which determines use 

 and performance. The intelligence of the horse, what- 

 ever it may be, his response to the driver's wishes, 

 his courage and endurance, depend somewhat, perhaps 

 largely, upon the blood of his ancestors inheritance 

 breed. However, characteristics and disposition are 

 greatly modified by climatic conditions. The very air 

 he breathes, the temperature in which he lives, the ele- 

 vation above sea -level and the humidity of the climate, 

 are all important factors in modifying both the physical 

 and mental peculiarities not only of breeds but of indi- 

 viduals of a breed as well. The Clydesdale horse brought 

 from his native country to the dry district bordering 

 on the Rocky mountains loses some of the abundant 

 long fetlock hair "feather"; and his offspring reared 

 in this dry climate loses still more of this peculiar and 

 apparently useless appendage. The "wind" of the low- 

 land horse and his sluggishness are improved, in time, 

 when he is taken to mountainous districts. The horses 

 of the low coast districts of North Carolina and those 



1 Author of this quotation not known. 

 B 



