EFFECT OF THE VOICE. 47 



say that the infliction of punishment for aggressiveness, 

 such as " savaging," may be beneficial, provided always 

 that it is awarded only during the attack, and is not 

 continued after the horse has ceased the assault. 



Reward may be conveyed by the voice, by patting and 

 caressing the animal with the hand, by giving him some 

 favourite dainty, such as a carrot or lump of sugar, and by 

 the cessation of discipline. This last mentioned means of 

 gaining the good-will of the horse is particularly effective, 

 and may be utilised with great advantage in the manage- 

 ment of the reins, and in many other cases in which we 

 wish to inform him that he has done to our satisfaction 

 the task we have set him. 



Effect of the voice. — The horse's keen perception of 

 sound makes the human voice a powerful means, by associa- 

 tion of ideas, of controlling and guiding him. As he 

 readily recognises change of tone (see page 22), but not of 

 words ; we should reserve a particular tone for each of our 

 different orders, the number of which should, in this respect, 

 be kept as small as possible, so that ambiguity may be 

 avoided. Also, it is of course well to have only one unvarying 

 word or expression for each order. M. James Fillis says : — 

 '' To teach a horse * at liberty ' [in a school or circus] to 

 advance at the walk, trot, or canter, one says * walk ' in a 

 comparatively low tone ; ' trot' while slightly raising the 

 voice ; and ' canter ! in a loud, commanding tone. If you 

 utter the word ' canter ' softly, the horse will remain at the 

 walk ; if loudly, he will immediately strike off into the 

 canter." I have seen very dangerous animals approached 



