The Press., 1902-12-11
TRICKS FOR HORSES.
THE ANIMALS ARE EASILY TAUGHT
 AND QUICK TO LEARN.

They Can, Without Much Trouble, Be
 Made to signal sYes. and "No," to
 Shake Hands and to Lie Down at
 the Word of Command.
 There are so many things that a horse can be taught to do, says Sue cess, that it is hard to tell which to select as best illustrating the methods by which we teach them. The follow ing, however, will furnish the key:
 Take pin in your hand. and. stand ing abreast of horses near shoul- der, prick him lightly on the breast. This resembles the bite of a fly, and to drive off the nuisance he will bring down his nose to his breast. This you accept as Yes and immediately re- ward him by feeding him a lump of sugar or some other trifie that he likes. Repeat the operation till he brings down his head at the slightest move ment of your hnnd toward his breast. By degrees you can substitute simple downward movement of the hand, which is less noticeable to an onlook- CT, but equally effective.
 Standing in the same position, prick him lightly with pin on the top of his neck. He will at once shake his head, which is accepted as "No;" then re ward him as before. Repeat this until he shakes his head at the least upward movement of the hand This signal. ,s he learns his lesson more perfectly, can be gradually iessened until it is 1frrI,k 1n,.Ix T~ No" Is Il very simple trick. and yet there is none that shows to better ad- vantage. Of course when horse has thoroughly learned to obey the signals you can ask him some questions and then. by the motion of your hand, make him say ''Yes'' or ''No" as you please.
 To teach horse to shake hands, fas- ten a short strap to one fore foot below the fetlock. Then. standing in front of the horse and having the strap in your hand. say, ''Shake hands," and imme- diately pull up his foot and take it in your hand. Then. still holding the foot. reward and caress him exactly as you would if he had given it to you of his own accord. Keep repeating the oper- ation. being careful to reward him only while his foot is in your hand. He will very soon learn to give you his foot the moment you reach your hand to- ward it.
 To teach a horse to lie down at a word of command first select a good, smooth piece of greensward. where he will not hurt himself. Harness him with surcingle and bridle and strap up his off fore foot. A common breech- ing strap is best for this. the short loop around his foot between the fet- lock and the hoof and the long one around his forearm. Fasten one end of strap to the near fore foot below the fetlock. pass the other end up through the surcingle and take it in your right hand and the bridle rein in your left hand. Push him slightly. and the moment he steps pull sharply on the strap.
 This of course will bring him to his knees. If he is a horse of any spirit, he will generally fight very pertina- ciously before he goes down; but, hav- ing the use of only his two hind legs, he soon becomes wearied and rests with his knees on the ground. Now pull his head toward you. and he will fall over the other way.
 Hold him down for some minutes, meanwhile speaking to him very sooth- ingly. Feed him Jumps of sugar; in fact, make as much as possible of him while in this position. Then release him and repeat the lesson. He soon learns to lie down very readily, and then you can omit strapping his 06 fore foot. Later you can also abandon the use of the strap and surcingle by taking his near foot in your hand. Then you can accomplish the purpose by simply touching the near fore leg with your hand and finally by a mo- tion of your hand toward his leg.
 You should always accompany the signal by the command, Lie downy' By degrees he learns its meaning, and the signal can be dispensed with. If a horse is large and strong, the trainer must be cool, wide awake and alert; otherwise he may make botch of it and injure the horse or himself or bOth