Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1903-01-08
TRICKS FOR HORS
THE ANIMALS ARE EASILY TAU
AND QUICK TO LEARN.

They Can, without Much Troubl
Made to Signal eyes" and ono n;
Shake Hands and to Lie Dow a
the Word OF Command. se
There are SO many things ths Z!
horse can be taught to do, says =
cess, that it is hard to tell whic
select as best illustrating the metl
by which we teach them. The foil,
ing, however. will furnish the key
Take a pin in your hand. and, sta
ing abreast Of horses near she
der, prick him lightly on the brea
This resembles the bite of a fly,
to drive off the nuisance he will br4
down his nose to his breast This
accept as ..Yes" aud Immediately
ward him by feeding him lump
sugar or some other trit!e that he like
Repeat the operation till he brin,
down his head Mt the slightest NOV
mcnt of your hand toward his breas
BY degrees you can substitute simp
downward movement Of the hant
which is less noticeable to an onlook
er, but equally effective.
Standing in the same position, pricB
him lightly with a pin on the top Of his
neck. He will ut once shake his head
which is accepted as mo-" then re-
ward him rs before. Repeat this until
he shakes his head ut the least upward
movement of the hand. This sign--'
as he learns his lesson more perfectly,
can be gradually lessened until =
very slight indeed. To say "Yes'
mo" Is very simple trick, and YET
there is none that shows to better nd
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 mo" as you
| please
To teach horse to shake hands, fas-
ten 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 II he had given it to you of his
own accord. Keep repeating the oper-
alton, being careful to reward him only
while his foot is i'll your hand. He will
very soon learn to give you his foot
the moment you reach your hand to-
ward 1t.
To teach horse to lie down at a
word of command first select good,
smooth piece of greensward, where he
/ will nOt h,,rf bj,pcniP ITor,,ec IT.,
with surcingle and bride 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 q 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 bride 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 lie is 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 of
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-
tlon Of your hand toward his leg.
You should always accompany the
signal by the command, Lie down!'
BY degrees he learns it's meaning, and
the signal can be dispensed with. IL
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.