The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-12-01

ElaE ne COulQ ESdCu IL. uSA uO sup
posed that no one saw him he took the
maui up with his teeth, carried 1t to
the further side of the field, carefully
hid it behind the stump of a tree, and
then watched the result. This time he
had been seen carrying the maui away,
go the men made great ado, pretending
to be hunting for it looking in the feDce
corners and behind stumps, while Bali
was running, snOrtiDg and kicking up
his heels with unbounGed delight.
Whenever they approached the maui
he tried to attract their attention to
some other point.
while I have been engaged IN the
practice of medicine, my horses have
had no opportunity to perform tricks
like these, but many times / have seen
exhibitions of intelligence and humor
no less marked. One cold, boisGerous
day my horse John was driven up to a
post in front of a desoiate looking farm
house about IA miles from home. There
was not a tree or object Of any kind to
break the cold, raw wind, so I covered
John with his blanket, and on top Of
this threw a buffalo robe, tucking it
we'll under the harness lest the wind
should blow it eff. But Ia my care
with the blanket and the robe, I forgot
to tRs5en John to the post. After HAD
been inside a few minutes the lady Of
the house, looking though the window,
cried out:
doctor, there goes your horse
"I FASTENED to the door only to see
John and the buggy making good time
homeward, already beyond the reach
OF my voice. Pretty sooD, however,
John turned from the road, make a
large circuit, something more than a
hundred yards in diameter, over the
smooth prairie, and came back to the
post again, where he shock his head
often and pranced about to show how
intensely ne enjoyed the j)ke. To me
ne said, as plainly as a horse could
say it:
CHOW, didn't fool you nicely ? You
thought I was going back without you.
Why, I was only playing a practical
joke to show how careless you were
not to tie my halter. OF course 1 would
not have left you out here alone
I have known many horses that
showed a good degree of humor as we'll
as intelligence, but for good sense l
think Frank was a little superior to
any other. He was seven years old
when I traded fer him, and he had a
bad reputation for running away but
40 was a proud horse, held his head
we'll up, and vas a high stopper. More
over, he had an intelligent look, and |
liked him. Upon inquiry l found that
his first runaway was not much to his
discredit. A drunken driver had forced
him to cross a rickety culvert and
allowed him to run the wheels eff the
planks at one end and upset the buggy,
at which he became frightened and
away. After this he was easily fright
ened by any unusual noise ami ccnfu-
sion behind him.
Il at once began the training Of my
new horse by trying to convince him Of
two things: First, that I was his friend
and would not forsake him on any &C
count; second, that I was fully comp8-
tent to care for and protect him. How
we'll I succeeded may be guessed, when
| tell you that I drove him almost every
day for sew n years and never had q
runaway. Some times he would be
startled, but a gentle word and a firm,
steady rein would always reassure hin
him so that 10 trouble occurred. His
experience had taught him TO be very
cautious about ~culverts. II one Of
these seemed to be the least out of re
pair he would stop, and no amount Of
coaxing or pushing could induce him
to pass over until I had first got out
and carefully examined it. Then,
after I had told him that ali WAS right,
no matter how rickety the culvert was,
he would quietly pass over.
when he first came into my pos
session he had the habit of frequently
throwing his head up, and, as his bride
was somewhat loose, the brow band
would some times lodge upon his ear.
Whenever this happened I would stop
him, get out of the buggy and replace
it. He soon learned to throw the band
up whenever he would like to stop and
be petted a little. I might have pre-
vented this at once by making the bride
fit better, but it occurred to me that,