THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING. 15 
that when horses are in good spirits, especially in 
cold weather, they will often shy at sights or sounds 
which under other circumstances they pass by with- 
out notice. In such a case it is always assumed that 
the horse, out of roguishness, is simply pretending to 
be afraid; and commonly this is true. Frequently, 
indeed, horses work themselves into a condition of, 
panic for the mere fun of the thing, —to enjoy the 
pleasure of running or shying off from the object 
of their half-real, half-fictitious terror, just as a 
school-girl might scurry through a churchyard at 
dusk. 
In one of Mr. Galton’s books there is a passage 
about wild animals which throws light on the conduct 
of some tame animals. Hesays: “From my own recol- 
lection, I believe that every antelope in South Africa 
has to run for its life every one or two days upon an 
average, and that he starts or gallops under the influ- 
ence of a false alarm many times in a day. Those 
who have crouched at night by the side of pools in 
the desert, in order to have a shot at the beasts that 
frequent them, see strange scenes of animal life: how 
the creatures gambol at one moment and fight at an- 
other; how a herd suddenly halts in strained atten- 
tion, and then breaks into a maddened rush, as one of 
them becomes conscious of the stealthy movements or 
rank scent of a beast of prey. Now this hourly life- 
and-death excitement is a keen delight to most wild 
creatures.” 
But there is more behind. I am convinced that 
nervous horses, when in high condition, and stimu- 
lated by the cold or otherwise, are often actually 
frightened by objects which do not thus affect them 
