CHAPTER XI. 



TEACHING TRICKS. 



IN this chapter I give the portraits of my old group of 

 trained horses and ponies, whose performances were re- 

 garded with such great interest by all who witnessed them, 

 that for a number of years I was compelled to give an extra 

 exhibition daily for the benefit of ladies and children, for 

 which a regular admission fee was charged ; and it w r as uni- 

 versally conceded that these exhibitions were more inter- 

 esting than those of any circus. The performances of Blind 

 Billy were regarded as especially remarkable, from the fact 

 of his being totally blind. He is, without question, the 

 most remarkable performing horse that has ever been ex- 

 hibited in this or any other country. I give a very fine 

 portrait of this remarkable horse, sketched by a leading 

 artist. 



The details of teaching a few tricks, which I give in 

 this chapter, will be of special interest to farmer boys, who 

 may desire to train their colts in this way. A horse seems 

 more intelligent and tractable when trained to perform a 

 few simple tricks, such as telling the age, kissing, bowing 

 his head, kicking up, turning right and left, or following 

 with the whip, etc., all of which any intelligent boy can 

 easily train a colt to do. 



In training a colt or horse to perform these tricks, there 

 should be no hurry, or effort to teach more than one thing 

 at a time. Make the lesson short, and repeat until thor- 



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