The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-08-27

namely, that he ia peculiarly sus eptible
10 the ,idiosyncrasies of his driver. |
remember, once. going on days ride
with party of friends. behind a magnifi-
cent team OF high-Siepping hays. They
pulled the carriage along easily at the rate
of ten miles an hour. doing their work
cheerfully, scarcely moving their bodies as
their legs flew back and forth with the
precision of machinery. Their driver was
a quiet. unaSsuming sort of man, who
never talked horse and was not known to
be particularly interested in the noble
animals, though he always drove team
that never took any ones dust" OF the
party, however, was a noted whip. who
from the time we started poured forth an
almost continuous string of equine lore.
He knew the pedigree and achievements
of every noted horse in the country; he
had owned one or two record breakers
himself, and was thorough good fellow
in every relation OF life. We had been
travelling for something over an hour when
he suddenly said j. like the looks
Of that team of yours. Let me take he
ribbons awhile and see how they drive"
Certainly" was the quiet reply, and j
rellnQuished his place and reius 10 the
whip.
The horses had done some fourteen miles
without turning hair, as hOrSemen say.
They were not sweating particle, and
looked as spick-and-span as though they
had just stepped out from the stable. The
whip took the reins, but he did not quicken
the speed at which they were travelling.
They're going good gait now" he said.
II only want to see what sort of drivers
they are" Presently he called back:
''How do you feed these animals, J.?
Don't you think they seem just a little
soft?" He had rot been driving them
more than twenty minutes. but they
scarcely looked like the same team. Each
horse was tossing its head, fIetfully, and
one was hunting the pole, TO use an eX-
pressive phrase, his nose bent In toward
the pole of the carriage, while his body
and hips were edged as far as possible
from ii. while both animals were sweating
profusely, lathering about the neck and
shoulders. and even where the reins lay
along their backs. The rhythmical har-
mODy OF their action was all gone; each
was travelling "on his own hook" and ap-
parently becoming heartily tired of the
undertaking.
The horses are all right" said j,
quietly. The fault is in The driver
Heartily indignant, the whip demanded
an explanation. Il don't know what the
trouble is" the owner said, "but you are
fretting the team. / think, perhays, you
are yourself fretted about something
something is wrong with you. and the
horses feel it,"
Much struck by what j had said the
driver admitted that he was feeling deeply
OF the previous day, and had wished to
drive, as much as anything, to divert his
own nina a1d make the time pass more
lightly. BY some curious and subtle psv-
chologlc law the animals had felt his
nervous. anxious condition, and were rem
dered nervous and unhappy by it. Just
what this law Is We are not familiar enough
with spiritual phenomena to determine.
but the fhct Is one which l have observed
a great many times. The duliest horse
seems to have sort of instructive percep-
ton oil his drivers mood, and to De soothed
or Ifelleu by II as surely as the reins
are taken in hand. On this occa sion the
owner OF the team resumed his place as
driver, and In the course of the next half
hour the horses had dried out and were
travelling along. apparently as contented
as ever.
l believe that herein lies some explana-
tlon Oh the fact that some drivers are
'horse-killers" and others are not Your
nervous, irritable or vacillating man
never makes good horseman any more
IMAM your bully does. 1t takes a gentle
man TO succeed with this most highly
SENSITIVE aud delicately organized mAm Der
OIL the brute creation. Some men will
work horses hard and steadily year in and
year out and the animals will thrive and
i've TO good old age, with no time lost on
account OF sickness or lameness, while
otners with animals apparently EQUALLY
strong and we'll built will be constantly
troubled by their horses goinplam hreat,
Ing down, or having to be laid by to rest
ana recuperate. They are always trading
horses 10 the vain endeavor to get an ami
nal that is good for something. They
never succeed, and they would do we'll to
cease handling horses and drive mules
instead, for the secret of their difficulty Is
that they worry their horses, aud it is
worry rather than hard work that breaks
the amin ais down. just as care kills a man
much more surely than overwork ever
does. The latter. of course. is bad for
man and beast. but light work ana heavy
worry are worse for The horse than heayv
work under driver or trainer who does
not fret his charge.
good. sound, well-bred. well-broken