The Goat
was supposed to canter around the ring, he had a way of standing on his hind legs and coming down head-first, which utterly demoralized our ring-master, and even caused the clown to do many “stunts” not down on the programme. The dog would wag his tail and bark in a manner very unlike a true circus horse.
It sometimes happened that one of the performers was the proud owner of a real live pony. Alas! even a pony had its objectionable features, for however willing the animal might be to climb the stairs, for reasons unaccountable to us, our parents put forth such strong objections that the pony had to be left out of the show.