Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-10-04
A CURIOUS INTIMACY.
A Man Who Sleeps in His Stable and
CIa'ms to Understand Horse Talk.
From the San Francisco News Letter. 5q-

CIaams to Understand Horse Talk.
from the San Francisco News Letter.
alIIhere is a retired trainer, named
Long, residing on q small farm Ia Ala
media county, who lives for nothing
else but the pleasure of being near
horses. He eats his meals In the
stable, oftentlmes passes the might in
the same stall with a favorite pony,
and among his equine pets is a mare
VINO Whnnles In answer every time he
speaks to her. Our informant relates
tnat the most perfect understanding
evidently exists between Mr.. Long, and
at least three out of the five. horses in
his stable. Two are recent additions,
but even in their case the same affinity
is seen In a lesser degree.
Ihe training of horses, their obedi-
ence, society, and tricks in a circus, are
no novelty; all of us have seen a horse
ire a pistol, stand on two legs, waltz,
he Gown with It's trainer, and perform
q hundred acts Of sagacity, but these
are simply the result of patient train
/ ing and systematic correction. What
MI. Long claims is far more astound-
ing. lie asserts that, from a life long
lntlmacy with horses, he understands
their speech; he goes further, and de-
clares that their nasal CULTURAL, explo-
dent, and unobstructed sounds have a
different meaning, are used by the
coalition of the brain and vocal organs,
and that not only do his favorite horses
understand him, but that every sound
which they utter is perfectly plain to
him. When arguing with him that
though he might comprehend the
meaning Of the sounds emanating from
the vocal chords of a horse, yet it was
a patent impossibility for horse tC
understand the English language, ne
replied: Living, eating, and sleeping
with my horses has given me the
knowledge | possess, and the same init
macy has acquired for my horses the
powers | claim for Them" Here turn
ing to slender, light-built gray pony
he said; Billy, we are talking Of you
if you understand what / am saying
turn your head round on the off side
The pony did SO, and then resumed its
feed. e" Billy" he continued, tell me
your age, how long you have hveo
here, and on which side of you is you1
friend Vesta?" The pony whinned fol
about two minutes cOnsecut1vely, anC
then, being loose In its stall, walked IN
to the adjoining one occupied by the
mare Vesta." "Now," he continued
edo you and Billy walk down together
to the trough and drink while l make
up your beds" Vesta and Billy walked
quietly out and proceeded straight te
the trough.
While they were out, Mr.. Long
turned over the straw carefully with q
fork, and carried on animated CONVEX
sation with a roam gelding about fifteen
hands high, Vesta's neighbor on the
other side. The name of this horse
was Policy, and after talking angrily tc
him for some minutes about some fault
he had committed the day before, be
ordered Mr.. Policy to lie down and not
to get up until after Vesta and Billy
had returned. Our informant saw but
littlein this to prove Mr.. Longs claims
as many horse will lie down at the
word of commando but when, without
further word, Policy arose and walked
out to the water trough after the re-
turn of the other two horses, the sub
ject became as difficult of solution as
before. afH aat 5 80