News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-06-05
KINDNESS AND APPLES
GO GOOD WAY TOWARD TEACHING
CIRCUS HORSES CURIOUS TRICKS.
That is to Say il the Tencher Knows His
business, and has the Disposition TO At
tend tOit.
From the. Cincinnati Enquirer.l

with long whip in his hand, wa
standing in the centre of a circus rim
talking to gray stallion. The anima
stood fully sixteen hands high, wa
powerfully built as Flemish draugh
horse, and had coat that giistened hk
satin. Its white tail swept the sawdus
IN the ring, and its head and neck wer
as clean cut and graceful as swans.
"Whoa, there Whoa, my beauty I
| Then he approached and stroked tn
creatures neck, while it whinnied softl.
and paved the sawdust with its off fore
foot. The man was Hiram Marks, ring
master with John Robinson's show, ant
this was his school of horses.
81 am just giving this stallion his les
son, now" he said. HE is a beginner
fairly well advanced in the First Read
er,' we may say. advanced him from
the Primer last week. and I find that he
has so much intelligence that it is pretty
clear I will be able to carry him through
the High School and graduate him as a
Nc. 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 beauty and had GER
tain degree of intelligence before I be
gan to handle him, as it is time thrown
away to educate an ungainly horse or
one that is not exceedingly bright. I
put a girth on him, slipped bit into his
mouth, put the bride over his hea d
fastened the over-check and side lines to
his girth, and led him into the ring.
The ring, as you see, is regular circus
ring, with raised circumference and a
centre pole. buckled this lunge cord
into the ring at his bit, and there he
was, ready to take his first lesson.
"The first thing to teach him is to go
around the outer edge of the ring, in
stead of running across it, as it is his
first impulse. By threatening him with
the whip, I keep him from the centre of
the ring, and by pulling on the lunge
cord hold him from going too far and
climbing the embankment In the
course of a week or two, by worl1in g
twice day, any horse can learn to lope
or gallop about the ring, either way, as
commanded. Have you ever noticed
hat all circus riders ride around
the ring from right to left? No?
Well, they do. An italian by the name
of Jumarny was the only rider ever
knew who rode from left to right.
"After this stallion had learned to go
around the ring when commanded, l
started in to teach him to come to me at
d motion of the wfIfp. ? nave reached
that stage now. You can see for your
self how [ go about it.
He cracked the whip and the beauti-
full horse set off on 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 caress
were given him, and then the entire act
was repeated.
"With plenty of apples and candy the
right kind of horse can be taught any
thing. No, they neither need nor get
any whipping at all while their edu-
cation is in progress. They may be
tapped occasionally with the whip
handle or brushed with the lash, but
the main use of the whip is to tell
them when to move by its cracking, and
to tell them how to move by its motions.
The principal signals to horse are made
with the whip handle; when the voice is
used it is done more to beguile the au-
dience than to enlighten the horse. For
instance, when / say Come, move my
whip in certain manner, and the horse
comes. Without the motion of the whip
| he would not understand me, while with
out the word come my wants would be
| perfectly clear to him, and he would
obey by the whip alone.
"Dan Rice had one of the very few
horses that have been broken to the
voice, and that happened only by acci-
dent. When Dan began with him the
nag had perfectly good eyes, and was
broken to the motion of the whip, but
while the training was in progress ii
went stone blind. 1t was such a
beautiful and intelligent creature that
Mr.. Rice did not want to give it up, and,
reasoning that if cart horse can be
taught to gee and 'haw' by sound, his
| horse could be taught other things in the
same way, he went to work and broke
the animal over again to the voice. Fol-
the act done by this blind horse and its
mate, Dan Rice used to get 81, 900 every
week that he exhibited them. The fig
ures are not exaggerated. know this
| to be fact. IDS
"You say that with apples the right
horse can be taught anything. Will
you explain ?"
"Why, it is all clear. When I say
the right horse [ mean a nag like this
one here-a horse that moves quickly,
that keeps his eye constantly on you,
and understands your motions. There
are men, you know, who are sluggish
and dull of perception-what is called
fat-witted- and there are just that kind
of horses. Such a nag [ could hardly
teach to run around the ring in the
same time that 1 could give an entire
education to an alert and intelligent ami
NAL. Then there is another kind o.
horse that may be intelligent enough
but which will never suit me, and thai
is vicious beast.
"Some years ago among the bes
known American equestrians was Mr.
Levi J. North. think he is living il
retirement in New York State now. He
was breaking a cream colOred stallion IL
the ring one morning while l was stand
ing outside chewing a straw and talking
to some of the boys. The beast wa
handsome and quick enough, but it wa
as vicious as a hyena, and that morning
something had disturbed it in the stable
SO that when it danced into the ring it
little black eyes glittered like q snakes
[ expected trouble, but North knew hi
business, and the rest of us contentet
ourselves with looking on. had turne,
my head to say something to one of tn
boys when heard a shrek. | wheele,
! around. and there was North whirlin,
around that stations head as a bo