58 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



lesson the first. Our next attempt was with a sieve, 

 full of corn (presented to him on an empty stomach), 

 which he could only reach from the tailboard of a tilted 

 wagon an awful object ! After a few snortings and 

 sniffings, here also hunger overcame his fears, and he 

 munched the oats with great relish ; but when the 

 wagon was put in motion, his dread for a little time got 

 the better of his appetite, and the flapping of the coyer- 

 ing of the tilt appeared to him most portentous : his 

 fears even in this case, however, soon gave place to 

 confidence, through the skilfulness of a groom to 

 whom he was much attached. This man mounted 

 the wagon, and, resting on the tailboard, offered the 

 oats to the horse, at the same time calling and encour- 

 aging him. This worked wonders ; nor shall we 

 readily forget the knucker of acknowledgment with 

 which the confiding brute followed the groom's call as 

 the wagon moved on, occasionally dipping his nose into 

 the sieve. After a few more lessons of a similar kind, 

 one or two of which were varied by giving him hay 

 from the window of a stage-coach, he lost all fear of 

 carriages, and his former owner would willingly have 

 taken him back at a very considerable increase of 

 price." 



The stomach was long ago discovered to be an ex- 

 cellent medium of education ; its lessons, aided by 

 habit, are infallible. Here is another example of this 

 truth : Mr. Grant, a merchant of London, asked a 



