THE HUNTER. 



anecdotes relating to the intellectual powers of the Horse, I select the following, some 

 of them entirely original, and others very little known : 



An orchard had been repeatedly stripped of its best and ripest fruit, and the maraud- 

 ers had laid their plans so cunningly that the strictest vigilance could not detect them. 

 At last the depredators were discovered to be a mare and her colt which were turned out 

 to graze among the trees. The mare was seen to go up to one of the apple-trees and-to 

 throw herself against the trunk so violently that a shower of ripe apples came tumbling 

 down. She and her offspring then ate the fallen apples, and the same process was 

 repeated at another tree. Another mare had discovered the secret of the water-butt, 

 and whenever she was thirsty, was accustomed to go to the butt, turn the tap with her 



HUNTER. 



teeth, drink until her thirst was satisfied, and then to close the tap again. I have 

 heard of two animals which performed this feat, but one of them was not clever enough 

 to turn the tap back again, and used to let all the water run to waste. 



A careless groom was ordered to prepare a mash for one of the Horses placed under 

 his care, and after making a thin, unsatisfactory mixture, he hastily threw a quantity 

 of chaff on the surface and gave it to the Horse. The animal tried to push away the 

 chaff and get his nose into the mash, but was unable to do so, and when he tried to 

 draw the liquid, into his mouth, the chaff flew into his throat and nearly choked him. 

 Being baffled, he paused awhile, and then pulled a lock of hay from the rack. Push- 

 ing the hay through the chaff, he contrived to suck the liquid mash through the inter- 

 stices until the hay was saturated with moisture. He then ate the piece of hay, pulled 

 another lock from the rack, and repeated the process until he had finished his mash. 



