San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-07-13
"MAGGIE."
Pleasant Story of an Exceedingly In
telliGent Pet Horse.

A Pleasant Story of an Exceedingly In
tellisent Pet Horse.
The readers of Our Boys and Girls have no
doubt heard of lambs and calves being raised
ION the bottle" but did they ever hear of a
horse that was raised in that way2 Whether
they have or not, | think they will enjoy
reading about Maggie" a horse of mine
that brought up from infancy" and have
always considered as much a member of the
family as any of us. :
The mother horse died when Maggie" was
only one day old and as we could not find
any other mother horse to adopt the little
thing we had to resort to the bottle to keep
it alive. But the little colt knew nothing
about that kind of a mother, and could not
be induced to draw the milk from it. FL
nally, distressed by the poor things pitiful
cries for its dead mother, l thought of a.
small, long necked funnel which had, and
putting that into the colts mouth, poured
the milk into it from the bottle Maggie,
soon caught on" and it was not long until
we substituted the orthodox babies bot 1
tie" for the funnel
From TIE bottle we went to the pan, andy
Maggie was soon fat and playful She grew
large and strong, and having been brought
up in this way, by hand" so to speak, she |
became great pet. She never had the ways
of other horses, perhaps because she wa.
raised with no other companionship than tina |
of human beings. Certainly, she has Away |
been the most intelligent brute | ever saw
For a long time after she grew up she woul, ]
have nothing to do with other horses, and if
one approached her she would run to some
member of the family, as if for protection.
After we began using her as a riding horse
she would stand very quietly where we hitched
her for an hour or so, but then she began to
get impatient, and would whinny time and
again until we came to her. At such times
she was always perfectly delighted to see US,
and would whinny in her SOFT low way, and
rub her head against u.s. as if to express her
joy at our coming back.
You will not be surprised that she was very
fond of milk, since we raised her "on the
bottle" as | told you, and as the servant was
in the habit of ehening out of doors when
the weather was warm, many a time Maggie
has turned the churn over in trying to get at
the contents.
But let me tell you one of the funniest
things Maggie ever did. OuT-kitchen was on
the ground floor and the door was plenty
large enough for a horse to enter. 1 had
OLUSH "Ouuelel ClldJ ONll EseG udu IfeNeT gone
in, she made herself so much at home all over
the place; but she never did until one cold
day, when | entered to find her stretched on
the floor before blazing log fire, for all the
world like a big dog. AS dinner was in course
of preparation | expected to see a,great scat
teration of pots and pans when she got up
but she rose to her feet as gently as a cat an I
went out without disturbing thing.
One thing more about my wonderful hors
and have done My father has often riddle, |
her TO town on a day whenmany ether plant |
ers We're there, too, and they all had a habi
of tying their horses in a certain Enclosure
When he was ready to return home he WOULD
never have to look among them for Maggie
for the moment he entered the incIosupe, and
before she saw him. she would begin to
whinny, showing that she knew of his APP
preach Call this instinct, reason--what YOU
Wilt is true, and has been noticed and
commented upon time and again. Cor. Phil
adelDhia Times