Huntsville gazette., 1885-03-21
HORSES.
HOW They Are Oftentimes Grossly Mis-
3 s.Tf1tsfSA. tEE& managed


Z. .Ff94sfN sEN@ managed.
We never have to travel far to seek
for examples of some kind of misman-
> - pf the horse, and initiates against its
,..s4 a. health and longevity, but, being con-
"a -4stssry and Irritating to it's temper,
:, ~, .eithef makes it irascible and vicious,
or sulky or stubborn; and, consequently,
: e.; either more or less dangerous and use
less. This management or rather mis-
management, is in very many instances
- due to ignorance and want of observa-
a. tion; for man may be the whole of
~ his life among horses, and ride or drive
4 !, them like his neighbors, and yet know
little of that creatures disposition, or
.s1Sthe best way to control it when 1t
evinces something unusual in the way
i =. Of ill-temper. But it may also be oW-
~ ing to . hasty or brutal manner,
scr coupled, perhaps, with ignorance, and
this. it is scarcely necessary to say,
"a constitutes the worst and most unpar-
.sk donable form of mismanagement. How
,s4@' & often do we not see poor horses beaten,
ss,sr merely because they are more intelli-
ss,lsss gent than those who beat them, and
-ss@ are chastised for doing that which they
know is right, or refusing to do that
which is wrong? We see horses beaten
and punished because they do not
,i,tvachance to hear their drivers voice call
nashing them to stop, and we note vio-
40 lent use of the whip when they chance
.s.f to manifest an intention to turn down
some familiar street or road without
Jan Indication from the ill-tempered
" slave-driver.. Some men-we fear
many men-who have to do with
"a horses, think them made to be beaten
.ssiA and abused, and that nothing can be
done with them without a full quantum
II, n, Of punishment.
= Las Persons in the daily use and handling
ar,ss of horses should have tact, patience,
the faculty of observation, acknowledge
!, of the different dispositions of horses,
and above all, kindly feeling for
them. In tanning by fear, it must be
remembered that all the interest which
the animal has is the avoiding of an
evil; but in tanning by gentleness, and
caresses, and food, it is the attainment
of enjoyment. The most extraordinary
results have been obtained by gentle
ness and patience with almost every
~ species of animals when persistently
@A tried. Instances innumerable might
be given, even from personal experience,
N in which kindness has conquered when
cruelty only made obstinacy and vi
ciousness more incurable.
No men deserve the title of 'horse-
eea men" who beat horses. 1t it notsthe
way to manage them, and it will always
be found that those who do so are ig-
norant, stupid men, or possessed of
cruel dispositions. Such individuals
should have nothing to do with horses.
We are too apt to consider animals
under thu dominion of man in no view
but that of property, whereas the do
minion granted to us over the animal
world is not conceded to us absolutely.
1t is a dominion in trust; and we should
never forget that the animal over which
we exercise our power has all the organs
which render it susceptible of pleasure
and pain. 1t sees, it hears, it smells,
it tastes. 1t feels with accuteness.
How mercifully, then, ought we to ex-
ercise the dominion entrusted to our
care!
There is another form of misman-
agement frequently INDUCED in,
namely, beating and abusing animals,
which, from defective training by in
competent men, have become what are
called .jibbers. 1t frequently hap
pens that horses addicted to this habit
are intelligent, high-couraged animals,
which, perfectly docile at one time,
have become, through haste and pas
sion on the part Of those who have
driven them, sulky and obstinate. This
is more especially the case with young
horses; at first many Of them are some
what afraid of the collar, and if not
gently and observantly treated, will
take positive dislike to it, which may
assume the form of jibbing, and be
most difficult to overcome. An igno-
rant, brutal fellow would, of course,
adopt the cruel expedient of unmerci-
fully beating such an animal to make
it go; and to prove his utter inability
to understand the creatures nature
or to manage it nationally, he may
even punish it about the head, perhaps
the most sensitive part of the horses
body, to cause 1t to 60 forward-a
strange procedure, certainly.
1t is scarcely necessary to say that
the brutal treatment resorted to, in or
der to compel jbbing horse to 60
forward has never yet been successful.
If patient persuasion and mild coercion
do not succeed, brutality never will.
To attempt to conquer by brute force
and by brutal means what should be
achieved by observation, reason, and
humanity, must fail High-couraged,
sensitive and intelligent horses, of all
others, will bear least maltreatment,
and will soonest offer stubborn re-
sistence; just as they are most docile
and affectionate with gentleness.-
Prairie Farmer.