"At the Circus"
Sta,—Since nobody better fitted to allay Mr. T. B. Peacock's fears has come forward, may I, speaking as one who has had some experience in the schooling of horses, assure him that it is virtually impossible to teach them anything by cruel means ? Patience, sympathy and kindness are the keynotes of all animal-training; no trainer worthy the name would even consider the employment of cruel methods. Indeed, to do so would be to -court early failure, and ultimate disaster; memory is by no means the exclusive perquisite of elephants.
Many people jump to Mr. Peacock's conclusions when they see a whip in the hands of the trainer, but this is used as a control, and as a signal, not as a goad. Why a whip ? Because it is easily wielded and far-reaching (it is used from early training), and looks better with a ringmaster's uniform than would an alarm clock or a penny whistle. It should be noted, too, that circus staffs number some of the best animal men in the world; if your correspondent would care to look beyond the flaps of the "big-tops" he would_see animal-management
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