The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-03
HUMOROUS, CLEVER HORSES
SOME GOOD STORIES TOLD ABOUT
 THEM
By Doctor Who Suspects That "ln- stinct'' and "Reason" Are Artificial

stinct'' and "Reason" Are Artificial
 Distinctions.
 The country doctor is expected to go whenever called-rain or shine, heat or cold night or day; sometimes, perhaps, leisurely, but often as quickly as pos sible Through all this his horse and himself are constant companions, and share together the joys and the sor- rows of the road. It is not strange, therefore, that an attachment of more than ordinary intensity often springs up between them, during which the man many times notes the almost hu- man qualities of the horse.
 While quite a boy I knew horse of such humor and intelligence that he gave me a high opinion of horses in general Somehow the tricks of old Ball led me to consider horses as all most of kin to human beings, and I have always talked to them and treat ed them accordingly. Ball, fine ani- nal belonging to my uncle, who lived on farm adjoining ours, was a sorrel horse of good size and especially fine head, with heavy neck and shoulders He had done great deal of farm work in his time, but was now too old for anything but occasional light service; so he usually had the range of a pas ture In front of the house that reached up to the yard fence There were cat tie and sheep in the same pasture.
 Ball was noted for his cunning and clever tricks, such as opening gates and doors, pulling down bars and the | like; but no one suspected him of play | ing practical jokes on sheep when one after another was found on the wrong side of the fence. It was by his antics and evident delight whenever a sheep was so found that he attracted atten- tion. A watch was instituted, and | soon, when Ball thought no one saw him, he slyly picked up sheep by the wool with his teeth and dropped it over the fence! Then, going away some distance, he anxiously waited evidently watching for some one to come out of | the house As soon as he saw that the sheep was discovered he gave a snort and began to run and kick up his heels with delight.
 Sometimes he would steal articles and hide them, evidently just for the fun of the thing. One day a heavy maui, such as is used for splitting rails and wood, was left so near the fence that he could reach it. When he sup posed that no one saw him he took the maui up with his teeth. carried it to the | further side of the field, carefully hid it 1 behind the stump of a tree and then watched the result. This time he had been seen carrying the maui away. so the men made great ado pretending to be hunting for 1t, looking in the fence i corners and behind stupps, while Ball was running, snorting and kicking up his heels with unbounded delight. Whenever they approached the maui he evidently tried to attract their at l tention to some other point
 While l have been engaged in the practice of medicine my horses have had no opportunity to perform tricks like these but many times I have seen exhibitions of intelligence and humor no less marked One cold, boisterous day my horse, John, was driven up to a post in front of desolate looking farm house, about fourteen 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, tuck ing it well under the harness lest the wind should blow it off. But in my care with the blanket and the robe I forgot to fasten John to the post.
 After I had been inside a few minutes the lady of the house, looking through the window, cried out, Doctor, there goes your horse!" I hastened to the door only to see John and the buggy making good time homeward, already beyond the reach of my voice.
 Pretty soon, however, John turned from the road, made a large circuit something more than a hundred yards in diameter-over the smooth prairie and came back to the post again, where he shook his head often and pranced about to show how intensely he enjoyed the joke. To me he said, as plainly as a horse could say it:
 Now, didn't I fool you nicely? You thought I was going back without you. Why, I was only playing practical joke to show how careless you were not to tie my halter Of course I would not have left you out here alone for the world
 I have known many horses that showed a good degree of humor as well as intelligence, but for good sense I think Frank was little superior to any other. He was seven years old when I traded for him and he had a bad reputation for running away; but he was proud horse, held his head we'll up. and was a high stopper Moreover. he had an intelligent look, and I liked him.
 Upon inquiry I found that his first runaway was not much to his credit. A drunken driver had forced him to cross a rickety culvert, and allowed | him to run the wheels off the blanks at one end and upset the buggy, at which he became frightened and ran away. After this he was easily frightened by any unusual noise and confusion be- i hind him.
 | I at once began the training of my new horse by trying to convince him of | two things; First, that I was his l friend and would not forsake him on