The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1911-06-20

without the corn, knowing that 1t
would be fed at the end.
In the training of horses some very
wonderful things have been accom-
plished by DR.. Martin ]. 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 a 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 small platform. Grad
ually the height of this platform was
raised to four feet. When the horses
had gotten accustomed to jumping
from this, they were taken into the
empty tank and the water raised until
1t was so deep they had to swim.
The last stage was to make them
Jump into the tank with dummies In
the saddle and swim for the other
shore.
The hardest thing Of all to teach
a horse" says Doctor Potter, rs 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 OF.
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 it took a world OF
patience to do it. Time and again
the horse leaped from the platform
! sometimes when 1t 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 b.
taught multitude of tricks Blu
dogs are so easily trained that usual.
dogs owner is It's trainer as well.
A dog will naturally sit up to bel
for a tidbit. 1t takes but a littl
training to get him to sit up at com
mand. Dogs are trained to walk Of
their hind or front feet much as
baby is taught to walk. The traine
takes the legs not in use and SUI
ports the animal. 1t soon learns t
balance itself. or course 1t is Away
rewarded at first by q bite to eat.
Cats can likewise be trained-if 20
know how. There seems to be SOM
thing in the feline nature averse
compulsory work; and the house ca
: is usually as unwilling a performe
: as her larger cousins. "A cat Will d
. anything for piece Of liver" sal
, Mr.. Powers when pressed for the s
l cret OF training cats, "and the wor
!. punishment you can give cat is
hit it on the tall That's all there
. to training a cat. Keep at it until
9 does your bidding, then give 1t son
n liver. If the animal won't leap throut
. a hoop or through your hands, tap
v on the tail near the body, and it W
;. jump quick enough"
h Perhaps the most remarkable 8
e complishment in the history of amin
o training was Mr.. Bostock's prepal
10 ton for the Buffalo exposition.
"a was under contract to have nu
,e Der of wonderful animal groups rea
"a for the opening Of the exposition
:. NAV. On the twenty-ninth Of Janual