THE HORSE'S EDUCATION 



more promptly, follow competent performance. 

 As cannot be too often repeated, however, these 

 must apply directly to the part involved, and not 

 to other portions of the body, which, while they 

 may also have been concerned in the action, are 

 not so actively implicated. If your Uncle John 

 lends you ten dollars, you do not return it to 

 Cousin Henry, and in the very same way if 

 your hunter jumps a fence, do not pat his neck, 

 but the hind quarters which he so ably em- 

 ployed ; if he bends his neck and carries himself 

 as your hand directs, do not caress his shoulders. 

 Indiscriminate petting is worse than none at all, 

 and extremely confusing, while that which is 

 prompt and appropriate is the kernel of the nut, 

 the gist of the whole matter. The old books on 

 equestrianism were, in a way, insistent upon such 

 points, and while they were not strong upon the 

 " caress '* clause, they came out brilliantly upon 

 the punishment part of it — and that directly to 

 the rebellious members, as instanced by the 

 advice " to cure a balky horse " by tying a tom- 

 cat to a pole and shoving it between the hind 

 legs to scratch and bite, winding up with the 

 prophecy, " And thus doing, doubt not that he 

 will go forward." 



91 



