Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-07
HORSES HAVE NO BRAINS.
It is Only Instinct, Says Edward Ship,
Chief Trainer for a Circus.

From an Exchange.
my word for it, a horse has less brain
power than any other animal" said Ed
ward Ship, a circus horse trainer. An
ostrich has more sense than horse; SO has
an alligator. That curious, indefinite guam
tity known as instinct is at the bottom of
all the tricks the horse learns. Just as he
eats from instinct, he learns tricks. Usual
ly the eating Is at the bottom Of his entire
education. He does things for the most
part because he gets something good to eat
after the doing. 1t is his natural search
after food that makes him do them, just as
he paws away tie snow to get at the grass.
After a while the actions become habits
and we will say he is broken
Nothing of the sort. There was never
anything to break. His instincts were sim
ply set in motion. Some men take months
to teach horse the simplest trick and
weeks to make him bride wise. In a week
1 can have the same horse responding easily
to my directions in simple tricks. 1t isn't
the horse; it is the trainer. Some men ex-
ercise an influence over animals which Is
almost hypnotic. The man himself can't
tell how it is done. In some mysterious
manner the horses instincts make him do
certain things in certain ways at certain
times. He does them just as he eats, and
with no more evidence of judgment.
1t is no uncommon thing for horse to
open feed box to get at the grain inside.
Some people fancy this is a proof of intelli-
BenCe. REALLY II is natural nOSlnR dItST
something to eat. Man is not the only an
imal whose heart can best be reached
through his stomach. There Is not the
slightest reason to believe that a horse has
a thinking mind. Here is an instance:
During the winter two of our ponies that
do pedestal act and always get lump of
sugar for it, If they make no mistakes,
hearsed so much their pedestals became
dun colored from dirt. When came into
Madison Square Garden to perform the lit
tie platforms were reprinted. What do
you think those ponies did? They refused
to act. When led into the ring and set at
their tasks they looked and shifted at the
new pedestals and didn't make movement
II the direction of their usual performance.
1t wasn't intelligence that made them act
thus. The same Jumps of sugar were wait
ing at the end They simply had not sense
enough to know their own implements in
white paint. If horse is taught to go
through a red door he will have to be
taught all over again to go through white
one. All doors do not look alike to him.
But a horse has nerves. plenty Of them.
Sometimes l think 1t is more these little
electric wires than anything else that makes
him amenable to teaching. Imagine, then.
the skill trainer must possess to train
creatures with nerves, but no logic, SO far
as l am able to see.
1T takes patience, such as any man may
own to. Also courage. An enraged horse
is redoubtab1e foe, as is any creature Of
temper with no good sense to back 1t. any
one who has ever seen human idiot in
rage can understand the situation. There
is nothing more horrible than blind, unrea-
soning, unguided temper. Creatures of
nerves are also creatures of fear. Kindness
must be exercised at all times in order to
overcome it. Until a horse Is unafraid he
Is valueless.
Sometimes they never get over their
tempers. Not long ago one Of our finest
thoroughbreds killed his partner. 1t was in
a car The partner fell down. The other
literally trampled him to death. He danced
on him and refused to stop long after he
vas dead. They never dwelt in peace, these
two. From their first days together they
quarreled- The end was inevitable. We
should have seen 1t. But the success of a
trick horse is all in his trainer. The public
fancies it is in the horse. but 1T is not.
Without a sensible trainer a trick horse IS
nothing"