Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1884-07-05
from the Cincinnati Enquirer.1

kxL00 GAo
A short, black-moustaohed gentleman,
With . hong whip in his hand, was
standing in the centre Of q circus ring
talking to . gray stallion. The animal
stood fully sixteen hands high, was
powerfully built a a Flemish draught
horse, and had . coat that glistened like
satin. It's white tail swept the sawdust
In tho ring, and its head and neck were
Is clean cut and graceful as a swans.
whoa, there ! Whoa, my beauty"
Then he approached and stroked the
creatures neck, while it whinnied softly
and paved the sawdust with its off fore
foot. The man was Hiram Marks, ring
master with John Robinson's show, and
this was his school of horses.
II am just giving this stallion his les
son, now" he said. "He is a beginner,
fairly well advanced in the First Read
sr,' we may say. !. advanced him from
the Primer last week. and I find that lie
has 80 much intelligence that it is pretty
clear I will be able to carry him through
the High School and graduate him al a
No. / trick horse. When he came to
me he had been handled enough to bear
the girth and the bit. / satisfied my.
self that he was a beauty and had q GER
tain degree OF intelligence before I be-
gan to handle him, as 1t is time thrown
away to educate An ungainly horse or
n that is not exceedingly bright. 1
put a girth on him, slipped a bit into his
mouth, put the bride over his head
fastened the over-check and side lines to
bis girth, and led him into the ring.
The ring, as you see, is q regular circus
ring, with raised circumference and o
centre pole. 1 buckled this lunge cord
into the ring at his bit, and there he
was, ready to take his first lesson.
1.-THE first thing to teach him is to 60
around the outer edge of the ring, in
stead of running across it, as 1t is his
first impulse. BY threatening him with
the whip, 1 keep him from the centre of
the ring, and by pulling on the lunge
cord I hold him from going too far and
climbing the e~mbankment. In the
course Of q week or two, by working
twice q day, any horse can learn to lope
or gallop about the ring, either way, as
commanded. Have you ever noticed
that all circus riders ride around
the ring from right to left? No2
Well, they do. An italian by the name
Of Jumarny Was the only rider l ever
knew who rode from left to right.
cater this stallion had learned to 90
Around the ring when commanded, I
started in to teach him 10 come to me at
motion OF the whip. I have reached
that stage now. You can see for your
self how I 60 about it."
He cracked the whip and the beauti-
full horse set of on a lope only to stop
short when the whip cracked again.
Come" said the trainer, pulling
gently On the lunge cord and motioning
with the whip handle. There was a
second pause, and then the steady
strain of the cord told the animal what
was wanted, and he walked slowly to
ward his master. When he had reached
the desired point an apple and a cares:
were given him, and then the entire &C
was repeated.
with plenty of apples and candy thu
right kind Of q horse can be taught any
thing. No, they neither need nor &c
onv vuhtrv,fpo NJ oil vvh;1o <lotr oJ,
cation is in progress. They may b.
tapped occasionally with the whit
handle or brushed with the lash, bu
the main use of the whip is to tel
them when to move by its cracking, an,
to tell them how to move by its motions
The principal signals..to q horse are mad
with the whip handle; when the voice i
used 1t Is done more to beguile the an
dience than to enlighten the horse. Fo
instance, when l say Come 1 move IN,
whip In a certain manner, and the hors
m Without the motion Of the viii
he would not understand me, while with
ont the word come my wants would b
perfectly clear to him, and he woul
obey by the whip alone.
dan Rice had one OF the very few
horses that lave been broken to til,
voice, and that happened only By acct
dent. When Dan began with him tn
nag had perfectly good eyes, and wa
broken to the motion of the whip, bu
while the training was in progress
went stone blind. 1t was such
beautiful and intelligent creature tina
MIR. Rice did not want to give it up. and
reasoning that if a cart horse can b
taught to gee and 'haw' by sound, hi
horse could be taught other things in th
same way, he vent to work and brok
the animal over again to the voice. Fo
the act done by this blind horse and i
mate. Dan Rice used to get 81, 900 ever
week that he exhibited them. The fl
urcs are not exaggerated. know tn
70 be a fact"
tNn, ca~ $hck -,kA ~,~11r A. r:-1