The Horse's Mind 209 



Galvayne advocate this to the extent of using a few- 

 simple words, such as " whoa," " come up," and 

 " back," many other writers, including Cesaresco, 

 consider it to be impossible. This statement every 

 soldier will question : he knows how quickly horses 

 learn words of command and trumpet calls. In 

 India some years ago, so the story goes, a charger 

 was winning a race, but when nearing the winning- 

 post " Halt " was sounded on the trumpet, and he 

 shut up. The astute owner of the second favorite 

 had commissioned a trumpeter to be in readiness, 

 and the ruse succeeded perfectly. 



I will quote two examples of voice training re- 

 sulting in marked brain development which have 

 recently come under my personal observation, and 

 which should go far tow^ards removing doubts on 

 the subject. There was a horse at Woolwich in 

 1909 called Tommy, and belonging to Captain 

 Aherne, R.H.A., which if turned loose would walk, 

 trot, canter, jump, and change legs at a canter when 

 told to do so, without the aid of whip or signal, be- 

 sides coming to his master when called. This was 

 taught by means of long reins ^ accompanied by 



1 The horse was bought as a five-year-old and had undergone no 

 early training. 



