20 AFFECTION OF HORSES FOR THEIR MASTERS 



greater satisfaction in the case of horses, and I 

 consider they possess as much sagacity as any animal 

 if they are properly treated, and can evince quite as 

 much affection as a dog. I have had horses so handy 

 that they could do almost anything but speak. I have 

 at the present time a favourite terrier which can speak. 

 That is to say, he can say ' How are you ?' in three 

 different keys, and this is a fact which is well known 

 to many of my friends. I am free to admit that some 

 horses have cost me much patience and trouble to 

 train, but a naturally clever horse can be taught to do 

 nearly an^^thing, and the more it is taught the more 

 easily it masters each new task. The love of horses 

 for music is indisputable and well substantiated, and I 

 may add that for ' the music of the hounds ' it is 

 excessive. 



Horses learn to know and love the voice of their 

 masters, and I have had some which, when they heard 

 my voice, would try to break out of the stable with 

 delight, and yet which would take no notice of grooms 

 or strangers, proving that they can reason ; and I have 

 no doubt but that they recognise in their master the 

 one person who gives them the greatest pleasure, not 

 only when exercising them, but galloping them with 

 the hounds they love so well. I once possessed a mare 

 which was so trained that she used to follow me about 

 like a dog anywhere and over anything. When break- 

 ing up a fox, a hare, or saving a deer, she would stand 

 quietly by, alone and unheld. She thoroughly enjoyed 

 the sport, and took it as a matter of course that her 

 place was with the pack and that she formed one of 

 them, and nothing would induce her to leave them, for 

 she loved being with them. After a long run she 



