The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1897-05-21
REAL HORSE SENSE.
ITORiss or EQUINE INTELLIGENCE
BY A COUNTRY DOCTOR

Ais Expesssses Shows Ths Hcrses Hsvs
Sense 81 Hunor and Love Fus-Irieks
Played In the Meadow BY Ola Ball.
Frsak asd the Broken Reis-
The country doctor is expected 70 GO
whenever called-rain or shine, heat on
cold. night or day; sometimes. perhaps.
leisurely. but often Al quickly As posi-
BILE. Through all this his horse and
himself are constant companions and
share together the joys and the sorrows
Of the road. II is not strange. therefore.
that an attachment Of more than ordi-
nary intensity often springs mp between
them. during which the man notes the
almost human qualities Of the horse.
While quite q boy I knew . horse Of
such hnmor and intelligence that he
gave me a high opinion Of horses in
general. Somehow the tricks Of old Ball
led me 10 consider horses as almost Of
kin to human beings. and l have always
talked 70 them and treated them &C
cordingly. Ball. a fine animal belong
ing to my uncle, who lived ON a farm
adjoining ours. was . sorrel horse of
good size and especially fine head. with
heavy neck and shoulders. He had done
Q great deal Of farm work in his time.
but was now too old for anything but
occasional light service. so be usually
had the range Of a pasture in front Of
the house. that reached up to the yard
fence. There were cattle and sheep in
the same pasture.
Ball was noted for his cunning md
clever tricks. such as opening gates and
doors. pulling down bars and the like.
but no one suspected him Of playing
practical jokes ON sheep when after
another was found ON the wrong side
Of the fence. 1t was by his antics and
evident delight whenever q sheep was
SO found that be attracted attention. A
watch was instituted, and soon, when
Ball thought no one saw him, he slyly
picked up q sheep by the wool with his
teeth and dropped il 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 tie sheep was
discovered be gave . 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 80 neal the fence
that be could reach it. When he sup
posed that NO one saw him, he took the
maui up with his teeth, carried it to
the farther side Of the field. carefully
hid il behind the stump Of q tree. and
then watched the result This time he
had been seen carrying the maui away,
90 the men made great ado. pretending
to be hunting for il, looking in the
fence and behind stumps. while
Ball was running. snorting and kicking
up his heels with unbounded delight
Whenever they approached the maui,
be 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. hut many times / have seen
exhibitions Of intelligence and humor
no less marked
/ have known many horses that show
ed q good degree Of humor as well as in
tellieence, but for good sense I think
Frank was a little superior to any 9TH
er. He was 2 years old when I traded
for him.
When he first came into my posses
Ion. be had the habit Of frequently
throwing his head up. and. a. his bride
was somewhat loose, the brow band
would sometimes lodge upon his ear.
Whenever this happened ! 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 Q little. I might have pre-
vented this at opce BY making the bri-
die at better, but il occurred to me that,
with this beginning, I might soon teach
him to stop when anything else got
wrong. and this I did, 90 that the least
disarrsngement Of the harness would
cause him to stop and wait to have IL
fixed Sometimes, however, be would
stop when the trouble was not, in my
opinion, Sufficient to warrant % can
tious . procedure.
One day, as I was driving along Il .
slow trot ' e . smooth. lonesome road
] had dropped the reins over the buggy
apron and was becoming quite inter
ested in the reading Of newspaper
when Frank suddenly stopped I looked
all around and over him, but could re
nothing wrong. 20 I said, with some
emphasis. Get up Frank" But he
still stood and kept throwing his bead
up and down Az I sat there with the
paper in my hand I looked again, and
especially to the bride, but saw nothing
wrong. I now. without taking MP the
reins, took the whip from its socket and,
giving him . sharp cut repeated my
command TO 60 along. This undeserved
punishment Dettled him very much, but
still he would not move forward. After
standing for . few moments. :. IL in
deep thought. he suddenly turned to the
right until the wheel ON that side
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