WHAT HORSE-SENSE REALLY MEANS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 26

WHAT HORSE-SENSE REALLY MEANS

' Ai'icr all these years of saying that people-"should have more-'horse^sense," it now turns out it should have', been "cow sense" all along, says .the "Christian Science Monitor." . ■ The horse, as an animal of intelligence, rates behind old bossy, and just anead'of sheep, another- much-maligned animal, so far as anything but lamb chops are • concerned. .., • AH this. Miss. Pearl .Gardner, of Cornell University's. Agricultural. School, told to the convention of the-American Association for the Advancement of Science. It took her five years, starting in 1931, and with infinite -patience, she studied 11 horses,,-48 cows, and 11 .sheep. '-'•■ ;. ■ ' "When it comes: to learning by observation, there's no question the cow -is much smarter than a horse," said -Miss Gardner. "It doesn't matter whertjier the. horse is a polo pony or a Percheron; I worked with both. Even sheep give horses ; a pretty good run for it, mentally.'1 -•Where "the horse has' been fooling everyone, apparently, is that he trusts

man far more than any other barnyard animal. He responds to human guidance instinctively, and thus is better at automatic learning. But he winds up doing many things that are not all right, as far as he is concerned, but get him a nice, reputation, because they're what he's told to do. I "Now a cow, for instance,".said Miss ! Gardner, "farmers. say. she's dumb because she won't walk right up to her stanchion and be locked in for the night. Actually she's smart, according to her own lights. She knows she'll have to stand "there for hours without moving, once they get hold of her. . ' ■ "Cows catch on to things quicker, remember better. And strangely enough, the champion cows that gave the most milk were the smartest of all. cows. But polo ponies make the same mistakes that draught horses do.- And sheep despite itheir timidity can be taught tricks such as taking a handkerchief out of your pocket, rolling a barrel, shaking hands, just as easily as a horse."