THE COUNTRY HOME [chaptek 



ply a horse that has been so badly educated that 

 he gives it up; you can make anything balk — 

 children as well as animals. You cannot cure it 

 except by common sense and gentleness. Rarey 

 says, "Horses never balk until forced into it by 

 bad management. Kindness cures all trouble 

 with horses." H. C. Merwin says, "A kind word 

 for a horse is as good as a feed of oats. The horse 

 is far more intelligent than many suppose. Talk- 

 ing to him, caressing him, praising him ^ with 

 little gifts of sugar, apples, and candy, render him 

 safer and more obedient." "We ought to have 

 a school, or a department of the public school, to 

 teach the art of driving. Jerking bits in an 

 animal's mouth, yelling, and slashing a weary 

 team, mark an incompetent driver." The best 

 drivers are quiet, patient, and kind. They know 

 that when they handle the reins it is mainly to 

 assist the horse with slight touches and sugges- 

 tions. 



Not having a tail to wag, and too large to be 

 played with, cat-fashion, the horse's range of emo- 

 tional expression is somewhat limited, yet he has 

 a capacity in his voice that is quite beyond the range 

 of nearly all other animals. He has learned to 



[340] 



