200 THE HORSE OF MR. VON OSTEN 



tion it happened that Hans severely injured his groom by 

 a blow in the face. Yet this man had always been very 

 gentle with the horse and had been forbidden by Mr. von 

 Osten to make Hans solve any problems for him. Ex- 

 perts assure me that we have here to deal, not with a 

 case of " moral insanity ", but with a very common ex- 

 perience, — although this view will probably be cavilled 

 at by enthusiastic lovers of horses. The work of so 

 excellent an expert as Fillis,"^ for instance, bears us out 

 in this respect. 



The horse's supposed fickleness was nothing but a 

 token of the fact that even those who were accustomed to 

 working with him, did not have him completely in hand. 

 (They simply did not understand how to obtain correct 

 responses from the horse.) It often happened that in the 

 evening, when it had become so dark that the movements 

 of Mr. von Osten could no longer be seen, Hans had to 

 suffer bitter reproaches because he made so many errors. 

 That, in truth, he never was stubborn and that the cause 

 of failure really lay in the questioner, is shown by the 

 fact that the mood, for which he was reproved, would dis- 

 appear the moment the questioner voluntarily controlled 

 the signals. We may add that there was no basis for the 

 assumption that " he had an uncommon, finely constituted 

 nervous system " or was possessed of a " high degree of 

 nervousness ". Both these phrases were often mentioned 

 by way of explanation. Hans was restive, as horses usu- 

 ally are. And besides, he lived a life so secluded (he 

 was never allowed to leave the courtyard) that as a result 

 he was easily disturbed by strange sights and sounds. 

 There was not the slightest trace of the clinical symptoms 

 of neurasthenia — on the contrary he gave the impression 



