The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-11-25
ART OF HORSE BREAKING
HOW FEAR AND .viciousNEss
MAY BE OVERCOME.

Horse Sharpe Have Classified Under
Nearly a Hundred Names the Par
ticuIar FolIles or Vices Dcmonstrat-
ed by Hcrccs-Trainins Circus
Horses.
Nowhere else Is the mean or unre-
liable horse SO utterly uncomfortable,
even for a day, as about circus. The
baking brute may throw parade into
confusion or cause the NEST cxa,per-
ating delay in loading a train. The
beast that shies at some trivial alarm
to his eyes or cars may inspire o dis
astrous runaway at any moment, and
the vicious bitter or kicker In the dress
ing tent is liable to lame performer
for life. In ether conditions of life
men may have time to waste on the
whims Of such ill-regulated beasts and
gradually wean them from their evil
ways, but big circus Is like an enor-
nous piece Of clcck work in which the
arrangement OF a single wheel makes
all go wrong, and anything not exact
ly right must be fixed at once.
Horse sharps have classified under
nearly hundred names the particular
follies or vices demonstrated by hors-
es, the melting causes CT which may
be either excessive nervousness or in
herent cussedness, and cases are in
frequent in which an animal has more
than two or three of them. General
ly horse has only one fault. Correct
him of that and he becomes a good
horse. If 1t cannct be corrected he
should be either got ria of or killed.
Circus men are difficult to persuade
that any horse Is too bad for reforma-
tlon, so successful have they been in
handling bad ones.
Normally, the horse Is one of the
most timid animals, perhaps not less
so than the deer: Imagined things
alarm him, and his first impulse when
frightened is to run from the supposed
danger. But no beast alive is more
placidly Indifferent to surroundings,
and adventitious circumstances and
less likely to be affected by fear than
the circus horse after he has gone
through a tenting season. He walks
calmly over piles of exploding fire.
crackers, stands serenely enveloped in
q cloud of steam beside locomotive.
and IL its whistle emits a screech,
merely looks up as If with mild curl
osity as to why such a fuss is made.
Brass bands blaring and banging all
about do net concern htim.he pays no
more attention to newspapers whirled
by the wind than to flying dust. bites
only when food is given him, never
thinks of kicking even when men sit
against his hips or pull his tail, re-
CARDS elephants as unconcernejly as
If they were dogs. and IL he should
happen to see scme foolish horse balk-
ing would no doubt be genuinely sur
prised. In brief, the experienced cir
Gus horse is as tame and reliable as
the hobby horse.
II he is something different when he
first Joins the circus. as soon as he
declares himself the trainers take him
II hand. Upon two things in his men,
tai makeup reliance can be placed;
whether he possesses the high degree
of intelligence by some ascribed to
him or not he has the capacity to read
lily associate as cause and effect some
thing he is doing with any painful or
disagreeable sensation concurrently
happening to him, and he has an ez-
cellent memory. These are the bases
upon which the trainer builds his
methods, hampered here possibly by
the inflexible rule that under no cir
cumstances may a whip be used upon
horse in his show.
II the horse is kicker a line is
rugged from the ankle of one forefoot,
or both, through pulley attached to
surcingle and back to the hand CT the
trainer, who also holds a pair of drlv-
ing reins sufficiently long for him to
stand we'll bach out OF the way of the
animals flying heels. Then miscel-
lanoous lot Of iingling. jangling. rat
Ting tin and copper utensils are made
fast to the horses back and dangling
behind his rump. Kick? OF course
he kicks, madly, but every time he
does so one or both of his forefeet
lifts, despite him. He finds it difficult,
II not impossible. to balance himself
on a single foreleg and do any satisfy
ing kicking with his hind ones, while
II he has to drop on his knees he must
keep his hind feet on the ground.
Those helpless conditions recur every
time he kicks. Possibly he has a
sense OF making himself ridiculous. At
all events he is effecting nothing. The
pans are still there. but he observes
that they do not hurt him. In few
minutes, with an air OF disgust, he
abandons his efforts. They poke the
tins with poles, making them rattle
louder. He affects not to notice them,
pretends to be looking for wisD Of
hay on the sawdust Perhaps II they
trip him again the next day he may In
a moment OF fcrgetfulness throw up
his heels. but finding the same cause
and effect operative. quits for good.