CHAPTER XXXI. 



TRAINING CIRCUS HORSES. 

 Height of perfection in training — Skillful education — Mild treatment best 

 — Sensible to plaudits of audience — High prices for trained ring- 

 horses. 



THE height of perfection in training seems to be found 

 among circus horses, and whether a man is in sympathy 

 with horses or not, if he has any admiration for them at all he 

 certainly must approve of the acquired intelligence Avhich the 

 trained horses for a circus exhibit. The manner of training 

 these horses is also interesting. The education must be given 

 in the most skillful manner, and some points in regard to it 

 will not only be interesting but may aid those who have the 

 training of horses for everyday purposes in doing their work 

 more intelligently. 



In reply to the inquiry as to how he trained his horses, the 

 trainer of all of Barnum and Bailey's trick and ring horses, 

 said : " The first thing that we have to do when we get new 

 horses is simply to keep them in the stables with the others 

 until they get used to their company. It is a singular thing, 

 too, how jealous the old horses are of the new comers. You 

 may laugh if you want to, but horses really have their way of 

 ' guying ' green stock. 



"After the horses get used to their surroundings and their 

 stable companions, we blindfold them and take them into the 

 ring. "While they are blindfolded we train them to the circu- 

 lar motion, — that is, we. make it appear natural to them to 

 run around in a ring. This requires a good deal of time and 

 patience. It generally takes a month to break a horse to this. 

 The natural tendency of the animal is to go straight, and the 

 going round is unnatural to him. Nowadays we use a 



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