The Washington times., 1901-07-10
FLINDERS ON HORSES.

Time was when binders were part of
the harness OF every well-regulated
horse, as much as the check-rein was.
It was deemed essential that the horse
should pay strict attention to business
and see nothing but the road ahead of
him. The horses feelings in the matter
were not thought of, and this is not sur
prising 1t has not been 50 very long
since human beings were thought to
need binders also.
Whether breadth Of thought and fear
lessness in general, on the part of the
present generation, has anything to do
with it or not. certain it is that binders
are not so often seen on horses as they
used To be. The humanitarian move
ments Of the past century have caused
or accompanied the study of animal
psychology. and some effort has been
made to discover the feelings of animals
in certain situations, either by imagin-
ing the sensations of human beings in
the same conditions or by closely
watching the animal itself. 1t does not
take very much investigation Of this
sort to enable one to see that things
rule, than those of which a fair view
can be had. The horse harnessed in the
old time fashion, and going al a rapid
gait, got a glimpse Of something which
he did not understand, usually at one
side of the road or in a field. He had
no time to investigate the thing and see
what it was. 1t might be a piece of
brown paper, it might be the branch of
tree, II might be a shadow, or it might
be an unknown and terrible enemy. It
must be remembered that the keen and
sensitive brain of the horse is in the
main extremely useful. He perceives
things which the duller senses of man
fail to note, and more than one instance
has been known of the horse averting
some danger from his rider simply
through his quicker perception.
This keenness Of vision and Of in
stinct, however, is of little use when no
time or chance is given for full appre-
hension of the situation. The binders
absolutely prevent this If the animal
wishes to see clearly what the perplex-
ing object is by the side Of his path, he
must stop suddenly or shy" to get a
good view of 1t; and the immediate con-
clusion of the driver is that fright, ner-
vousness, or loss of what in a human
being would be called self-control. must
account for the action. on the con .rsr-y,
it is precisely the course which a
human being would take in a f.'ar
predicament Without the blinderE the
horse could see everything on the rslI,
at the side of 1t, or in the fields for some
distance ahead; with them. sudden at
tacks Of nerves are practically inevita-
BILE. unless the animals intelligence is
dulled or it comes to understand thor
oughly that monsters of frightful mien
are not to be met with on ordinary
roads.
There is another aspect of the case,
not to be overlooked. To any being,
human or of the brute creation, the fear
of a blow from behind, or in the dark.
is more terrifying than the apprehension
of one in the face. When the horse has
seen something within the limited
range of vision allowed by the binders,
but not clearly enough to understand
it's nature. to pass that object implies
the possibility of an attack from the
side. where there is no defence or
means of warning. 1t would be nom
sense TO say that the horse does not
reason clearly about this. The power
Of elementary reasoning begins in the
youngest animals as soon as they are
old enough to seek food and avoid a
blow. The animal which deliberately
turns its back upon danger must be
either heet-footed, hoping to escape, or
must be defended by some sort of a
carapace. 1t is the instinct Of every
living creature to meet it's enemy, if 1t
has to be met, face to face. The in
stinct which prompts the horse to avoid
passing a possible danger is stronger
than training.
The trainers OF horses may not have
thought all this out in analytical form,
but many of them have arrived at the
conclusion, by very simple process of
induction. that horse viii be less like
ly TO shy or get frightened If he can see
all around him than If he is half blind;
and they have tried the experiment of