The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1911-04-28

without the corn, knowing that IL
would be fed at the end.
In the training of horses some very
wonderful things have been accom-
plished by Dr. Martin j. Potter,
New York veterinarian, who prepares
practically all the horses that appear
in special acts on the American stage.
Everyone will remember the Hippo
drome plunging horses, that leaped
overheard with their riders on their
backs in the course of battle. and
swan TO the other shore. 1t TOOK
Doctor Potter six months TO prepare
the horses for that act. He began by
leading them gently into shallow wa
ter Then they were made to jump
into 1t from a small platform. Grad
ually the height of this platform was
raised 10 four feet. When the horses
had gotten accustomed to jumping
from this. they were taken into the
empty tank and the water raised until
II was so deep they had to swim.
The last stage was to make them
lump into the tank with dummies in
the saddle and swim for the other
shore.
The hardest thing of all to teach
O. ,horee.,. says Doctor Potter Is the
one that appears easiest-that is, to
make him stand still" Many persons
will recall the aerial horse that made
ascensions at one of the big circuses
This horse had no wings, like Pega
sus. and so had to be lifted skyward
He stood on a small platform with
| nothing to prevent his jumping off
On his back sat a woman. AS the
animal was hoisted slowly upward
the audience sat breathless; for had
the animal taken single step, he
would have plunged with his rider to
the earth below Doctor Potter trained
| that horse, and 1t took world OF
patience to do ii. Time and again
| the horse leaped from the platform
sometimes when it was fifteen feet In
air. But the stage was thickly padded
| and the horse was never injured. In
| the end patience won.
| Monkeys. because of their agility
| and their natural habits, can be
taught tricks that would be impossi
BILE for other animals.
Dogs as everybody knows, can be
! taught multitude of tricks But
dogs are so easily trained that usually
a dogs owner is its trainer as well.
dog will naturally sit up to bef
| for a ticbit. 1t takes but a little
/ training to get him to sit up at com
| mand. Dogs are trained to walk or
| their hind or front feet much as &
| baby is taught to walk. The trainer
| takes the legs not in use and sup
ports the animal. 1t soon learns t.
| balance itself. OF course 1t is Away.
| rewarded at first by bite to eat.
| Cats can likewise be trained-if yo,
know how There seems to be some
thing in the feline nature averse t.
/ compulsory work; and the house ca
is usually as unwilling a performel
| as her larger cousins. "A cat will d.
anything for piece OF liver" salt
| Mr.. Powers when pressed for the Sc
| cret of training cats. and the wors
punishment you can give cat is t.
| hit II on the tail. That's all there Il
/! to training a cat Keep at 1T until l
does your bidding, then give 1t SOM
liver. II the animal won't leap through
a hoop or through your. hands. tap !
on the tail near tie body, and II vii
Jump quick enough"
Perhaps the most remarkable &C
complishment in the history of anima
training was Mr. Bostock's prepare
ton for the Buffalo exposition. HI
was under contract to have a mum
Der of wonderful animal groups read,
for the opening of the exposition Il
May. On the twenty-ninth OF January