THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
ply a horse that has been so badly educated that 
he gives it up; you can make anything balk — 
children as well as animals. You cannot cure it 
except by common sense and gentleness. Rarey 
says, “Horses never balk until forced into it by 
bad management. Kindness cures all trouble 
with horses.”” H.C. Merwin says, “A kind word 
for a horse is as good as a feed of oats. The horse 
is far more intelligent than many suppose. Talk- 
ing to him, caressing him, praising him — with 
little gifts of sugar, apples, and candy, render him 
safer and more obedient.” “‘We ought to have 
a school, or a department of the public school, to 
teach the art of driving. Jerking bits in an 
animal’s mouth, yelling, and slashing a weary 
team, mark an incompetent driver.” The best 
drivers are quiet, patient, and kind. They know 
that when they handle the reins it is mainly to 
assist the horse with slight touches and sugges- 
tions. 
Not having a tail to wag, and too large to be 
played with, cat-fashion, the horse’s range of emo- 
tional expression is somewhat limited, yet he has 
a capacity in his voice that is quite beyond the range 
of nearly all other animals. He has learned to 
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