The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1910-06-22
A WONDERFUL
TRAINED HORSE
Property of Simon Smith,
OF FOrdsvilIe.
ur nnrn aaallu flITF TnInUn
! he DOES MANY CUTE TRICKS
Can Distinguish Difference in
COlOrS and Performs In
tereSting Stunts.


growth as well, never tire Of looking
at trained animals when being put
through the acts that have been
taught them by their trainers or
masters The display Of what seems
10 be intelligence bordering on the
marvellous, is fascinating, and for this
reason the dog and pony shows and
the vaudeville acts in which animals
appear, are always attended by eager
crowds.
Many people have an idea that The
training of dogs, horses and other
animals is very difficult, and to be
accomplished only by those who have
made a lifelong study of the sub
ject. This is an error, as any bright
boy can train his dog in n very few
uays to perform any simple trick, and
after that there is scarcely a limit to
the performances and their variations
that may be gone through with by
the exercise Of little patience and
attention. OF course there are excep-
tons to dogs.
An instance Of this is shown in a
horse owned by Mr.. Simon Smith, a
young man whose home is in Fords-
vile, KY Mr.. Smith, few months
ago, came into possession of a young
horse that was thought to be so vic
ious as to be worthless. He was
a handsome animal, but willful and
dangerous. Mr.. Smith undertook to
subdue him by kindness, and in a
few days had him under control. One
day he accidentally poked his horse
in the side with his finger and the
animal threw his head around. In
order To show that no harm was
meant, the operation WIS repeated, md
the horse was at the same time patted
and spoken TO kindly. After tElt ne
would throw his head around when
ever his masters finger was extend
ed toward his side, and finally lie
would do it when asked where ne
put his oats"
From this beginning the rest was
easy, until now the horse has rep
ertoire that is more extensive by far
than that of any animal that appears
on the stage, and Mr.. Smith has re-
celved many flattering offers for his
horse, and also to exhibit him.
The animal is trained to unlock a
trunk and take out the contents, orc
article at a time, which is made into
a very amusing trick by the display
of feminine apparel, which the trunk
always contains. He fires 4 large
gun with great enjoyment, as is shown
by the fact that he tries to do the
trick whenever he can get ut the gun.
He does the usual counting tricks
of the ordinary show horse and in i'd
dltion adds, subtracts, multiplies and
divides. and when an error is made he
grows FESTIVE and will not be quiet
until it is corrected. The spelling IF
words is easy to him, and he takes
great pleasure in this exercise. With
his forelegs crossed and tied tightly
with four or five hard" knots, be
frees himself more quickly by untying
the knots than the sO-called spirit
iialist can do the trick in his cabinet.
he acknowledges an introduction and
can remember the names of persons
20 whom he is introduced. He bows
and looks pleased when his acts are
applauded, and shows impotence when
no attention is paid to them. IIe
sets a dummy clock to the correct
time, selects any object indicated from
colors and several shades, showing
his preference for red ard green over
the others. He plays hide-and-se X
with his master with as much intel
est as a child. He is exceedingly .Cna
of music, and when left alone with
a bell will amuse himself by ringing
it, Mr.. Smith has purchased chime
of bells ard will begin training the
horse to play with them, which he
does not doubt that he will be able 20
do.
The horse now knows and performs
perfectly a sufficient number of
feats to entertain visitors for an hour
without repeating, and anything new
can be added to his repertoire in a
couple Of days, with an hour or two
of training each day.
Mr.. Smith takes pleasure in showing
his pet to his friends and visitors,
but does not contemplate putting
him on exhibition, though often i'm
portuned to do so.
GeOr6e Would FIJI.