The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1890-11-01
A REMARKABLE FRIENDSHIP.
Existing Between the Famous Trotter
Rarus and His Dog Companion.

No sketch of Rarus would be com.
plete without some mention of his re.
| markable friendship for dog, says a
writer in the atlantic Monthly. When
the horse was in California fireman
gave to Splan wiry haired Scotch ter.
rier pup. who was then two months old
and weighed when full-grown only two
pounds. Splan in turn gave the 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 this terrier, who is described as
possessing almost human intelli-
gence,n the trotter took great fancy,
which the dog fully returned. They
became fast and inseparable friends
mot only" said Mr.. Splan, ''were
they extremely fond of each other. but
they showed their affection plainly as
did ever a man for woman. We
never took any pains to teach the dog
anything about the horse. Everything
he knew came to him by his own pa
tience. From the time took him to
the stable pup until sold Rarus they
were never separated an hour. We
once left the dog in the stall while we
took the horse to the blacksmith shop,
and when we came back we found he
had made havoc with everything 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 bet
ter keep the horse and dog together
after that. When Rarus went to the
track for exercise or to trot a race the
dog would follow Dave around and sit
by the gate at his side watching Rarus
with as much interest as Dave did.
When the horse returned to the stable
after q heat and was unchecked, the
dog would walk up and climb up on
his forward legs and kiss him, the horse
always bending his head down to re-
ceive the caress. In the stable, after
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 pub
lie Jim Invariably knew what it meant,
and it enhanced the value of the per-
formance by the manner in which he
would get on the horses back. On
these occasions the horse was shown
the halter, aud Jimmy, who learned to
distinguish these events from those in
which the sulky was used. would fol-
low Dave and Rarus out on the quar-
ter-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 behind, barking furio1sly
at the people,"
When Rarus was sold to Mr. Bonner,
Splan sent Jimmy with the horse,
rightly Judging that it would be cruel
to separate them. But in Mr.. Bonner 8
stable there was bull terrier in charge,
and one day when, for some real or
fancied atfront, 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 per-
ceiving that his little friend was in
danger and distress, pulled back on
the halter till it broke, rushed cut of
his stall and would have made short
work of the bull terrier had he not been
restrained by the groomS.