HORSE PRONE TO SHY 149 



accustomed to non-natural objects, we might 

 instance some manufactured article, such as 

 an umbrella. A horse who had never seen a 

 man carrying an umbrella over his head, and 

 was suddenly to meet one, would almost 

 certainly shy, if he did not actually jump 

 round and bolt in an opposite direction ; but 

 after seeing the same constantly, he becomes 

 gradually reconciled and finally ceases to take 

 any notice of it whatever. 



Now, change the scene. Picture the same 

 horse being led through a gate and turned 

 loose in the field. His first impulse is to start 

 off at full gallop, head and tail in the air. 



Full of spirit on obtaining his liberty, the 

 horse careers wildly round the field feeling, no 

 doubt, in complete sympathy with his sur- 

 roundings, which, in fact, for the moment he 

 is. Thus galloping, the animal rounds an 

 angle of the hedge when he comes suddenly 

 on an open umbrella Ijnng prone on the grass 

 and rocking in the wind. 



Under these conditions, no longer normal, 

 it would be fairly safe to say that the animal 

 would inevitably shy at the object (which he 

 has seen a thousand times before, but under 

 different circumstances) and gallop from it as 

 one possessed. But after covering a certain 

 distance the horse is seen to face round, stare 



