366 CIRCUS TRICKS. 



whip or stick towards his chest, we may obtain the same 

 result by advancing a foot. The beauty of a performance 

 Hke that of Mr. Probasco with his " talking horse," 

 Mahomet, is that the signals are so skilfully arranged and 

 given that they cannot be detected by the spectators. I 

 may mention that a " talking horse " is one which bows to 

 say " yes," shakes his head to signify " no," and paws the 

 ground to indicate numbers. In this way he can answer 

 questions in the affirmative or negative, count, do " sums," 

 and, when his master has the aid of an accomplice, perform 

 "thought-reading" feats. For such work we require a 

 horse which has a natural aptitude for the business. 



Begging. — The horse may be taught to " beg," that is to 

 stand with one fore leg bent and off the ground, by tapping 

 the leg with a whip or cane, or by pulling up the foot by 

 means of a strap or cord, while at the same time repeating 

 the word " beg." As soon as the horse's foot is off the 

 ground he should be rewarded with some dainty, the very 

 sight of which, after a short time, will make him " beg " ; 

 or he will do so if the whip be pointed towards the part. 



Bowing and shaking the head. — These tricks are 

 taught by lightly pricking the horse on, respectively, the 

 breast or the crest, so as to make him bite at the offending 

 object, or try to remove it by shaking his head and neck. 

 He will thus soon learn to make his bow (to say " yes "), 

 or to shake his head (to say " no ") at the mere advance 

 of the hand in the direction of the indicated part. The pin 

 may be held in the hand or fixed to the end of a stick. 



