Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-06-26
ANIMALS MUCH LIKE Mem,
Treat Them With Kindness if You
Would Secure the Best Services.
Much Harm is Done By the Use of
Whip and Spur.


ways deal with every animal as YOU
would like to be dealt with if you were
the animal
This is an excellent precept for dealing
with any animal, but is especially useful
in its application to treatment of the horse.
says the New York Times The horse is a
tiveness almost womanly, intelligence al
most next In rank to that of man. More
than that, he is capable under proper
treatment of developing a great deal of
affection and may be made to do more for
his master than for anybody else. It
would be we'll for all horse owners if thew
bore this fact continually in mind. Kind
ness, coupled with patience, will get more
out of a horse than whips and spurs.
There is another fact worth remembering
In this connection: 1t is cowardly and
Ignoble to abuse an animal.
Watch the horses in our crowded
streets, says the tract under consideration,
distressed as their sensitive nerves are by
the distracting noses about them, to which
are added. perhaps. the harsh tones of the
driver, suffering with bit that is too Sc
we're, In fear of a master vino is too ready
to strike or jerk them. This, alas, is the
day 5 history of too many horses" Mr..
Rarey was one of the first to point out the
noble. tractable, nature of the horse-"his
patient endurance, his willingness to
work, his ready submission to reasonable
master who knows how to explain in man
ner which tie horse can understand what
Is required of him." Mr.. Rarey says:
"Almost every wrong act the horse commits
Is from mlsmanagement,f fear or excitement;
one harsh word will so excite a nervous
horse as to increase his pulse ten beats in a
minute. With all our intellect it would
be difficult for us to understand the driv-
ing of some foreigners of foreign ways
and foreign language. We should always
recollect that our ways and language are
just as foreign and unknown to !he horses
as any language in the world is to us, and
should try co practice what we could under
stand were we the horse, endeavoring by
some simple means to work on his under
standing rather than on the different parts
of his body
The tight check rein is one of the great
est cruelties habitually and thoughtlessly
practlced on the horse. lthinders the full
use of the muscles "called into play
when the animal has a load to draw. 1t
lmpairs the circulation, causing heat and
suffering IN the eyes and brain. 1t holds
back the horses head so that the full force
of the suns glare fall into his eyes and he
Tin Is himself prevented from dropping his
head and thus shield them from this suffer-
ing. And lastly, besides destroying grace
and ease OF motion the poor animal suffers
increasingly with nervousness and restless
ness. which find vent in involuntary move
ments which not lnfrequently call forth
punishment from the ignorant driver.
Yet the excuse for the check rein is to give
''stylishness" to the horse The check
rein is cruel just in proportion as it is
tight enough to prevent his head from
falling into its natural position If any
one doubts this statement let him for q
moment loosen that relentless strap, and
he can have no more convincing argument
against its use than that offered byth inn
patient manner in which the horse instant
ly stretches his neck when released from
its uncomfortable constraint.
Blinds cause constant constraint, be-
cause the horses eyes being on the side of
his head, they compel him to look ahead,
(which is just as much cross-eyed for
him as it would be for us to look side
ways. They also ''act as refiectors,' and
throw ''the sun s glare into the animals
sensitive eyes But care should be used
in taking them off horses accustomed to
them. Never put frosty bit into a
horses mouth when the temperature is be-
low the freezing point, It inlicts acute
present suffering and often permanent in
jury to the animal. A leather or rubber
bit should be provided for such weather,
or else leather covering as smooth as
possible should be put on the metal bit
A real mouthpiece can be made by any
harnessmaker at small cost
Horses know nothing about baking I'M
til they are forced into it by bad manage
m,nt. When horse balks in harness it
is generally from some Encouragement,
excitement. confusion or from not know
ing how to pull, but seldom from any I'M
Willingness to perform all FIAT he under
stands. A free horse in team may be so
anxious to go that when he hears the word
he will start with jump which will not
move the load, but give him so severe a
jerk on the shoulders that he willIfy back
and stop the other horse. Next will come
the slashing and cracking of the whip and
hallooing of the driver until something
is broken or the driver is through with
his course of treatment. But what mis-
take the driver makes in whipping
his horse for this act! Reason and
common sense should teach him that the
horse was willing and anxious t. -, but
did not know how to start the load.
1t is a common thing to see horses
that have been baked a few times turn
their heads and look back as soon as they
are little frustrated. This is because
they have been whipped and are afraid of
" hat is behind them" Again and again
in his book Mr.. Rarey dwells on the i'm
portance of being gentle with the horse,
approaching him gently and deliberately,
so as not to startle or excite him. He
speaks of the necessity Of having entire
control over ones self, because the horse
being timid animal. is easily bewildered
and frightened, and is thus made the
more unfit to understand what is required
of him. Patting and caressing have
qUieting effect, and are conducive to I'M
derstanding the animal and the man.
The horse is quick to learn and quicker to
who can command him. The
baking horse should first be pacifed,
then his attention be diverted from the
thing that made him balk A good sug-
gestion contained in the tract is to lift ore
of his fore feet from the ground and tap it
gently several times with a stone. II
have never" says the writer. ''failed to
start a horse in that very simple way, and
| have on several occasions had balky
horses which would exhaust the patience
Of all former owners" Another method
that will often succeed when all others
fail is to unhitch the horse. lead him a
little way, then pull the vehicle to him
and hitch him up again. Never jerk or
pull at the bit of balky horse. By all
means refrain from whipping him. Those
only make him worse. Appro-