Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-06-30

It. After l bad got on the opposite side,
could moi find the line again, and, after
searching some little time, gave It up,
and threw the reins upon the neck of the
horse and babe him 60 home; preferring
to trust to his instinct to find the way,
rather than my own judgment as to the
proper direction to be taken. We had mol
gone many rods before noticed the blazed
trees, for which / had been looking, and
my curiosity was at once excited to know
whether the horse really noticed the faint
marks on the trees, and was guided BY
them Accordingly, I left the reins Der.
fectly free, and was soon satiafied beyond
doubt that such was the fact, for, on com
ing to q fallen tree or other obstruction,
he would 60 around it, return to the line,
and follow it without mistake; In fact, he
seemed to find the line more readily than
I could myself. Afterward, / tested him
time and again. 1t made no difference
whether the direction WAS to or from
home. Once start him on . surveyors
line, and he would follow it unerringly.
If the direction was from home, on com.
ing to corner post he would make stop,
as If to inquire whether to keep straight
on, or turn to the right or left This was
only one of many knowing traits display.
ed BY him. But, Notwithstanding the old
fellow was so docile and knowing, could
never persuade him to let me shoot game
from his back; and. after few attempts,
l was forced to give it up. He would not
let me even mount him with the gun In my
hand, or allow it to be handed to me after
had mounted. He appeared to have .
horror of firearms perhaps he had
noticed the result Of their use on the
game, and was afraid of some time getting
a shot himself. With another horse tried
an experiment that I never should
have thought of except for the in.
telligence, if not reasoning power,
displayed by an old favorite. had
bought horse in Milwaukee-a jet black,
and perfect beauty of q horse-which was
said to have been caught from . drove OF
wild horses on the Texas prairies He
was gentle and docile enough while in
hand, but once loose, there was no such
thing as catching him again by any of the
ordinary means used for catching horses.
In fact, the man from whom ! purchased
him, after chasing him for days with relays
of horses from his livery stable, had been
obliged, at last, to crease" him, in order
to catch him. g., to shoot him through
the top Of the neck, just above the neck
bone. temporarily paralyzing him, with
out doing him permanent injury. This,
to be successfully performed, requires q
good marksman; for, If the ball struck an
inch too low, the shot would be fatal
After had been his owner six or eight
months, he got loose in the fall of the
year, and took to the woods near by. l
used to see him often, but he would never
let me approach anywhere near him. Al
ter snow fell in the winter, and feed be-
came scarce in the woods, he could occa-
sionally be seen in the evening near the
stable, and l used to leave the door open
until bedtime, and sometimes as late IS Two
o'clock at night, and place measure OF
oats and salt within tempting distance in,
side the stable, in hopes that he would 60
in; but he was not to be entrapped in
that way. At last began to cast about for
the reason why he would not venture to
enter the stable while the door stood in
vitingly open and no person in sight, and
I came to the conclusion that the horse
reasoned after this manner: AS long as
lights are burning in the house people are
stirring about, and am liable to surprise;
after the lights are out there 10 no more
stir for the night, and if the door was left
open / might venture in with safety"
Taking it for granted that had solved the
problem correctly, l laid my plans accord
ingly. Attaching one end Of rope to
the handle of the stable door, passed the
other end through the window OF the
house, which commanded view Of the
situation, and at the usual hour for retir-
ing, l had the lights put out and every
thing kept quiet. The result was as
had hoped, rather than expected. The
lights had not been out more than ten or
ffteen minutes before the horse cautiously
approached and entered the stable. The
trap was sprung and we had him safe.
How this affected his reasoning faculties
/ can't tell, but he must evidently have
considered himself taken in. That the
horse would not have gone into the stable
had the lights been left burning, don't
pretend to say give the facts % they
occurred. But l am satisfied, from more
than thirty years close observation, that
the horse observes and makes . (mental)
note of great deal more than is generally
supposed. - OperlGnd Monthly.