Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-04-26

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 j. Potter. a
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 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
horse" says Doctor Potter. lis 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 small platform with
nothing to prevent his jumping on.
On his back sat woman. AS the
animal was hoisted slowly upward
the audience sat breathless; for had
the animal taken a 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 1t. 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 be
taught multitude Of tricks. But
dogs are so easily trained that usually
dogs owner is its trainer as we'll.
A dog will naturally sit up to beg
for tidbit. 1t takes but little
training to get him to sit up at COM
mand. Dogs are trained to walk on
their hind or front feet much as a
baby is taught to walk. The trainer
takes the legs not in use and sup
ports the animal. 1t soon learns to
balance itself. OF course it is always
rewarded at first by bite to eat.
Cats can likewise be trained-if you
know how. There seems to be some
thing in the feline nature averse to
compulsory work; and the house cat
is usually as unwilling a performer
as her larger cousins. "a cat will do
anything for piece of liver" said
Mr.. Powers when pressed for the Sc
cret of training cats, land the worst
punishment you can give cat Is to
hit 1t on the tail. That's all there is
to training cat. Keep at it until 1t
does your bidding, then give 1t some
liver. If the animal won't leap through
hoop or through your hands, tap 1t
on the tail near the body, and 1t will
jump quick enough"
Perhaps the most remarkable &C
complement in the history of animal
training was Mr.. Bostocks prepare
ton for the Buffalo exposition. He
was under contract to have a num-
Der OF wonderful animal groups ready
for the opening of the exposition in
May. On the twenty-ninth Of January.