THE FIRE HORSES OF NEW YORK

Temuka Leader, Issue 1771, 2 August 1888, Page 3

THE FIRE HORSES OF NEW YORK

The training school for the horses of the New York Fire Department at Harlem is (says Iron) a unique establishment There the green and untrained horses are brought and trained to jump from their stalls at the first sound of the alarm gong, and rush out to their stations, where they stand ready for the lightning-like adjustment of the harness, and quivering with impatience for the great doors to be thrown back, that they may whirl the engine or hose carriage out into the street. About 60 perfectly trained horses are turned out from this school yearly. The chief of the department buys the horses, and, sending them to the school, leaves them in the hands of a foreman and two assistants. The average horse understands his duties pretty thoroughly 'at the end of two daye, and the least intelligent of them never takes longer than a week to learn the ropes. After thoroughly testing the green animal to find if bis wind is in perfect condition, he is put iu a stall, and at first led backwards and forward! to bis station before the engine some dozen times or so, to accustom him to ducking hie head to get under the collar and harness- Then he is left in his stall and coaxed to come forward under the harness himself by kind words and rewards of candy and apples. He is then taught to come forward at the clang of the gong, and after a little practice at that his education is complete, and he is transferred to one of the regular fire-engine stations, The system of training is entirely that of kindness, and recourse to the whip is never necessary. The horses seem to like the work, and grow as enthusiastic over it as one of the old volunteer firemen. The usual length of active service is five years. The school was started merely as an experiment, but it turned out a complete success. There is in Paris a training school for horses exactly on the same plan as that of Now York, but it is fitted up more completely.