THE ASSEMBLAGE 



undeniable proof of a state of transmitted equilib- 

 rium imposed upon the animal by the man. 



The demonstration is still more striking when the 

 horse is mounted. I weigh, dressed, 172 pounds, 

 a total weight of 1187. Letting the reins lie loose, 

 I find that the scales read 722 and 565 pounds. 

 I take the reins, flex the horse's head and neck 

 to bring the animal "in hand," and at the same 

 time, by the contact of my legs, I bring the 

 animal's hind legs into the perpendicular position. 

 The scales now read, in front 598, behind 589, a 

 difference of only nine pounds. In this particular 

 case, the horse had become pretty nervous from 

 having his feet on the unsteady scale platforms; 

 and in order to keep him quiet, I had been neglect- 

 ing my own position, and leaning slightly forward, 

 for the sake of loading the fore legs and keeping 

 them still. As soon as I rectified this, and sat with 

 head and body erect, the forward scales read stead- 

 ily 593, while the other oscillated between 592 and 

 594 with the action of my legs in trying to keep the 

 horse perfectly quiet. It was a convincing dem- 

 onstration. Moreover, by leaning forward or back- 

 ward with the head very erect, I could always take 

 thirty-five or forty pounds from the reading of 

 either scales and add it to the other. 



For the benefit of any person who wishes to 

 repeat these tests, I add certain practical sugges- 

 tions from my own experience. I find that one of 

 the great difficulties is to keep the horse calm and 



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