ILLUSTRATED HORSE-BREAKING. 



CHAPTER I. 



MENTAL QUALITIES OF THE HORSE. 



Mind — Consciousness, ideas, memory, habit, and instinct — Intelli- 

 gence and reason— Special instincts and senses — Vice. 



Mind. — An animal is distinguished from a vegetable by, 

 among other things, the possession of a nervous system, 

 the development of which appears to regulate that of the 

 mental capacity of the individual. In the lowest grades of 

 animal life, the nervous matter, instead of having a definite 

 form, is diffused generally throughout the body, which, in 

 this case, is gifted only with the power of contracting on 

 being touched and of absorbing nourishment from its 

 surroundings. In the next few upward steps, we find the 

 nerves arranged in a system of conducting nerves and 

 nerve centres by which the animal can receive and com- 

 bine impressions from without, and can transmit to its 

 muscles the stimulus for the movements which are neces- 

 sary to its welfare. By the nerves on the surface of the 

 body becoming modified by use, the senses of sight, 

 hearing, taste, and smell were gradually established. 



B 



