336 HOUSE POKTRAITTJBE. 



it, and the stopping and word are ever after associated 

 with being compelled to stop. The value of this lesson 

 must not be subsequently spoiled by using "whoa" to 

 signify several different actions, but for immediate stop- 

 ping alone. 



So highly do I value the importance of this lesson, and 

 the habit of compliance, that I am very careful not to use 

 the word when there is a likelihood of its not being attended 

 to, and if one of my horses were to become suddenly fright- 

 ened, I would rather let him run a little till I thought he 

 could understand what I said. I can illustrate this by re- 

 counting a circumstance that happened before I left home. 

 I had traded to a friend a large and very promising five-year- 

 old horse, that had only been broken that season. He had 

 been driven on the track, with an occasional trip to the 

 town, before the sulky or skeleton wagon. He was very 

 docile, and I did not hesitate to recommend him as one 

 likely to make a very valuable road horse. My friend 

 drove him on the track, and was very much pleased with 

 him in every respect. After dinner, I hitched him to a 

 buggy, to which the shafts were so short, that, in order to 

 get him the requisite distance from the whifHe-tree, their 

 points came just opposite the shoulder-blade. I appre- 

 hended no trouble, relying on the quietness of his dis- 

 position. We got into the wagon, and went to town ; the 

 steam ferry-boat lay at the landing, where we met an 

 acqaintance, and as we were talking to him, I saw that 

 the horse was becoming frigthened at the boat, and knowing 

 that the pleasure of his new owner in driving him would 

 be much enhanced if he did not see him act badly, I 

 requested him to get out of the wagon, and I would drive 

 on. Before he could get out, the horse became so uneasy 

 as to render alighting difficult, and I undertook to turn 

 him around in the street, so that he would not see the 

 boat. In turning, the end of the shaft hit his shoulder, 



