Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1882 — Habit in Horses. [ARTICLE]

Habit in Horses.

[New York Sun.] Horses learn their duties just as a boy learns his trade. Some years ago Thirty-three engine had a horse named Buckskin, oil account of his color, that had to be sold because he was soft footel. You see their feet can’t stand the terrific w r ork at tbeengiue forever, aud they are sold at auction when they’ve outlived their usefulness on the engine though they are perfectly good for other purposes. Weill, Buckskin was bou ht by a Seventh avenue seedstore man. He found him a good horse and used him well. One day he was on Seventh avenue with a heavy load of seed, aud was just above Twentieth street when there was an alarm of fire from Thirty-seventh street.. Twelve, truck came sweeping out of Twentieth street and went bowling up the avenue with her gong ringing. Buckskin was alone, he had a big load and was ont of practice; but he went to that fire in first-class style, jerking the load of seed up the avenue iu a way that made people look, After that they tied him when there was any fire under way. “That reminds me of engine Thirty’s old team. They were bought by a truckman. One day he was carting a heavy load of goods from a north river steamer, when he had occasion to, pass the team’s old engine house in Spring street. When an engine team returns from a fire the horses walk, right up on the sidewalk, are unhitched and the engine backed in. When Thirty’s old team came to the house they walked right up, too. The driver might have as well tried to jump over a house as to stop them. There they stood, waiting to be unhitched, and they wouldn’t move. Finally one of the firemen told the driver to get up on his seat and get a good firm hold of the reins. Then he went in and struck the alarm. The horses thought it was a fire, aud away they went like a shot, load and all. The truckman avoids Spring street now,” “Very intelligent.” “I should say so. It reminds me of Thirty-three’s teuder horse, Bill. You know the horses have to be hitched up many times a day without leaving the house. Along side of the engine is a rope that the engineer rings the gong with when goiug to the fire. When they have a hitch up St Thirty-three and don’t go out, Bill waits till he is released from the lender and then goes to the engine, seizes the rope and rings the gong like a pirate. Tnat’s his idea of fun. He learned the trick himself. They have some good horses up iu Thirty-three. They’re fed four times a day—at 8, 12. 6 aud 8 o’clock, and exactly 15 minutes before feeding time oue of the engine horses, Jim, begins to pound the iron column at tne head of his stall with his off fore foot. That foot just falls there with the force and regularity of a trip hammer till Jim gets his feed. »