Sense and Sentiment 22 1 



excess of sentiment and of lack of ordinary common 

 sense — the well-meaning- woman was ignorantly 

 inflicting every day more real suffering upon her 

 birds than a daily flogging would have afforded the 

 horse. 



It is this same sort of sentimentalism that allows 

 a horse to take all sorts of liberties, to drive care- 

 lessly, to stumble, to pretend fear at passing or sta- 

 tionary objects, to do, unrebuked, the thousand and 

 one things that a horse will attempt if he thinks 

 he dare do so with impunity. The handler must be 

 the master, and there must be no question about it, 

 no idea of partnership, no fallacy that " Billy knows 

 my touch on his mouth," or that " Charley knows 

 my voice." Nothing is more suicidal than this sort 

 of sentimentalism. The fairy tales of our childhood 

 of the " Arab and his steed " were the merest non- 

 sense, the most dangerous fables. Sentiment would 

 fain endorse them, but experience and common sense 

 sternly forbids — therefore be warned in time. 



Horses were given to mankind to subjugate, to 

 discipline along rational lines, and to use intelli- 



