Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-16
Fanny.


Charles McIlvaine tells ini our Animal
Friends Of beautiful sorrel mare which
he reluctantly bought for $50. Her name
was Fanny. He says: II tried her before
the purchase She was unframed, fresh
from the plough. awkward, rough. with
horizontal neck and nose which yielded
eadily to rein tugs. without any change in
the direction of her body. She had a pho
netic rudder: Gee and 'Haw' controlled it.
Il fly lighted on her glossy, aristocra teal
ly veined hide. she stopped. Neither whip
spur nor exhortation moved her until her
nose had dabbled at 1T or the nearest of
her feet had dislodged 1t. She stumbled.
she SHE'D at every implement and improve
ment or civilization. She had special fear
OF the steamboats, on one side of the main
| street OF the capital and the brick build
Ihss on the other. Nevertheless, she was
| young, handsome clean-Imbed small
cared. decidedly individual in disposition 1
wanted mountain-bred horse to ride The
rafines. ridges and benches of trackless
forest. and she was not at home on level.
| she was climber, slider roller il neces-
| sary. disliked her, but l decided to risk
| my neck. and to teach her to carry me
| with the ease and grace of which I he
| lieved her capable
Imagine the equestrian agony of an old
FOX hunter on plough horse! An old army
officer on charger that doubled up instead
| "hSShhS' ~ iOStT VI easy mounts on
| the frame OF gang saw! A sickler for
| ulsclpiine riding nag that reached for
| ana browSed upon anything and everything
green that was within reachl believe l
mated her. Three times In my first month
| OF ownership she saved my life by her
superior knowledge of mountain affairs.
| once. at the usual fording place, she re-
| fused to swim suddenly risen, mad tor
| rent. until she had pushed upstream
! through the tangled brushwood of it's bor-
der fully fifty yards above the accustomed
| traii. Then she cheerfully plunged in and,
| swimming diagonally against the stream,
| she landed safely at the accustomed spot.
Il she had yielded to my folly the waters
F, force would have carried us below tho
| landing and dashed us among the rocks
! where no hold for horse or man existed.
That day I admired her. Another day q
| 1at fitting stone. on a narrow trail wind
Ing far up the side of q steep rayine, gave
| way under her hind feet. AS quick as a
| flash she dropped upon her belly chung to
| the trail with her fore feet and hung mo-
tionless upon the edge Of the precipice.
ANY other than mountain horse would
have plunged: lost grip and dashed itself
and rider to the wild stream three hundred
Feet below clambered or her, well
scared. By hard work my partner and
| myself (she remaining quiet all the whilo)-
| worked her hind quarters back upon the
| trail. That day / began to have an affec-
| ton for her.
r "on MINDLESS days one who listens in for
| est regions will hear the boom of falling
/
! less. weakened by decay. will sway like
inverted pendulums when storms howl, but
| some day storm will leave them to the
unmercifui calm-they will lean beyond the
| center OF gravity. Little by little their tops
move farther from the perpendicular: the
| angle increases until the dry ibers can
| stretch no more: and when they give way.
| the base breaks and the great carcasses
ccme crashing to the ground A dull. musi-
| cal boom Is the giants last salute. On such
| q day. hot, breezeless, I slowly rode
forest trail. Fanny saw everything, heard
| everything. ,smeiled everything. Her ears
signaled her Impressions. horse tells its
| secrets to rider only. Only an equestrian
| knows his horse. The saddle, like the
! touch Of elbow, makes trusting comrades.
! The scurrylng, barking squirrels, the fit
| ting birds, the glistening lizards. the
| scamperipg rabbits the strutting pleas
| ants. all amused her. Often-for the noun
tsins were full OF them short stop. a
| quick snort. rapid striking of her front
| feet upon the ground, told OF a snake on
the trail or in the underground near by.
| Then no urging would move her onward
! until her Jars had frightened the reptile
] Well out of her path. / have sat upon her
| back and watched q mother snake remove
her clutch OF eggs stealthily. one by one.
| from warm sun spot on the trail to ner
| place OF safety. Fanny would not bulge
| until the serpent vacated the premises.
| Her way Of telling me that something seri-
Gus confronted us was always the same:
1t was coaxing and CONFERENCE.-The laid her
| head against my boot and looked up at me.
But one day, in the height Of cheerful
| mood. Fanny stopped. Had she struck an
invisible wall her halt would not have
| been more sudden unexpected. She
glanced rapidly from side to side as II look
Ing for way Of escape. Then she trem-
| bled. and never before had felt her trem-
bic. I spoke soothingly to her while iook-
| ed anxiously about. ! saw nothing. but
Fanny's head was lifted. She was looking
| upward. and on the instant, I heard an
ominous cracking. ] was engaged in cut
ting the timber from 5'0OO-acre tract and
recognized the sound of a lettering tree.
| There was sudden snap. Tearing. crush
| ing. bearing smaller trees beneath 1t.
| giant of the woods crashed to the ground
| across the trail not twenty feet ahead.
! Had Fanny not noticed the first slow move
| ment of the fall, we should have been man.
gied beneath 1t. From that moment loved
her.
cats. dogs have far keener faculties than
| animals Of the same kind that have been
| reared in a more artificial environment.
From birth, the greater part OF their lives
| Is spent in foraging and caring for them
| selves. They are up to all of natures
| tricks. They can teach the wariest hunter
| woodcraft. Stories of Fanny's instinct and
| intelligence are many and marvellous.
| Training animals to serve our uses or
our likings is to reduce them from the
| natural to the unnatural. Kindness. gen.
| tleness, patience, frmness. often punish
| ment. are necessary. The pet dog in ny
| drives in the park have undergone the rigid
| discipline of training experts before coming
/ to her care. The sight Of a whip Is now
| enough. Too often she charges a man with
cruelty because the cut of a whip Is neces-
sary to perfect an education or as a
minder Of authority. My lady Is no skilled
| driver if she leaves the whip at home. She
may-n fear for herself. but she endangers
| the lives and limbs of others If she lacks
the means of control in emergency. Reor-
| ganizing Fanny's methods Of locomotion.
pr evening her from stopping short at each
passing salutation, from turning In to any
| sign Of habitation, from giving an almost
| imperceptible wriggle that set the unsus-
pecting rider down in the middle of the
road wondering how 1t happened-all this
was slow work. not without irritation on
both sides: for Fanny was a vixen. when
she chose to be. and her master was far
from being a saint, whether he chose to be
or not. Nevertheless. she became Siderable.
She adopted style, airs pace. fearlessness.
At for the equine smart set. If she had
any affection for me, she was too true to
oil; Dot bot IA Ia hnpta RI