Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-12-25
Remarkable Friendship.
From the Atlantic Monthly.

from the AtldlltlC MOuuHs'
No sketch of Rarus would be complete
without some mention of his remark
able friendship for a dog. When the
horse was in California fireman gave
to Splan a wiry-haired Scotch terrier
pup, which was then ? months old and
weighed, when full grown, only two
pounds. Splan in turn gave tie pup to
Dave, the groom of Rarus, with the
caution not to let the horse hurt him,
for on several occasions Rarus had
bitten dogs that ventured into his stall.
But to the terrier, which is described as
possessing almost human intelligence, y
the trotter took a great fancy, which the
dog fluffy returned. They became fast
and inseparable friends.
mot only" said MIR. Splan, "were
they extremely fond of each other, but
they showed their affections as plainly
as did ever a man for woman. We
never took any pains to teach the dog
anything about the horse. Everything
the dog knew came to him by his own
patience. From the time / took him
to the stable pup until sold Rarus
they were never separated an hour.
We once lett the dog in the stall while
We took the horse to the blacksmith
shop, and when we came back we found
that he had made havoc with every
thing there was in there trying to get
out, while the horse, during the entire
journey, was uneasy, restless and In
general acted as badly as the dog did.
Dave remarked that he thought we
had better keep the horse and dog to-
gether after that. When Rarus went to
the track for exercise or to trot race,
the dog would follow Dave around and
sit by the gate at his side, watching
Rarus with as much interest as Dave
dii |. When the horse was returned to
the stable alter the heat and was un-
checked, the dog would walk up and
climb on his forward legs and kiss him,
the horse always bending his head
down to receive the caress. In the
stable, alter work was over, Jim and
the horse would often frolic like two
boys. If the horse lay down Jim would
climb on his back. and in that way soon
learned to ride him, and whenever | led
Rarus out to show him to the public
Jim invariably knew what it meant, and
1t enhanced the value of the perform
could get on the horses back. On
these occasions the horse was
shown the halter, and Jimmy.
who learned to distinguish these
events from those in which the
sulky was used. would follow Dave and
Rarus out on the quarter stretch, and
then, when the halt was made in front
of the grand stand, Dave would stoop
down and in flash Jimmy would jump
on his back. run up to his shoulder,
from there leap on the horses back.
and there he would stand, his head
high in the air and his tail out stiff be-
hind, barking furiously at the people"
When Rarus was sold to Mr.. Bonner,
Splan sent Jimmy with the horse, right
~ judging that it would be cruel to sep
arate them. But in Mr.. Bonner's stable
there was bull terrier in charge, and
one day when for some real or fancied
affront, the small dog attacked the
larger one, the latter took Jimmy by the
neck and was fast killing him, but Rarus
heard his outcries and, perceiving that
his little friend was in danger and dis
Iress, pulled back on the halter till it
broke, rushed out of his stall and would
have made short work of the bull ter
rier had he not been restrained by the
grooms.