•14 MENTAL QUALITIES OF THE HORSE. 



often notice that if the groom presumes too far on the 

 creduHty of the animal, and leads him off to the stable 

 without allowing him to eat some of the oats, he will in 

 future see through the imposition, and refuse to be caught. 

 Here, the sight of the man forms in the mind of the horse 

 a stronger association with the disagreeable idea of capture 

 than with the pleasurable one of food. The groom can 

 generally, however, restore the desired association by 

 judicious concessions. To explain the action of the horse 

 in this case, we in no way require to suppose that he is 

 guided by reason. 



In many hilly countries where the mountains are high, 

 the bridle paths narrow and the cliffs precipitous, the pack 

 animals (horses, ponies, mules, and donkeys) which are 

 accustomed to carry bulky loads that overhang a good deal 

 to right and left, acquire the habit of travelling on the 

 extreme edge of the outside of the roadway, so that they 

 may not knock their burden against a jutting-out rock or 

 other prominent obstacle. I may explain that such an 

 accident might cause them to lose their balance and fall 

 over the precipice. We might accept the adoption of this 

 prudent precaution as a proof of forethought, were it not 

 for the fact that all practisers of this habit will adhere to it 

 when no such precaution is necessary. I have ridden many 

 ponies of this kind on wild mountain paths, with a consider- 

 able amount of trepidation ; for do what I could to keep 

 them away from the dangerous edge of the cliff, they 

 would rigidly adhere to it, seemingly under the impression 

 that the load on their back (myself) projected at least three 

 feet on each side of them. Their prudence, therefore, is 



