The Horse, as Comrade and Friend 



groom to do what you want him to do. It is 

 against his nature to do anything contrary 

 to what he and his forefathers have always 

 thought proper to do. In the way of feeding, 

 grooming, conditioning, physicing and in 

 attending to abrasions, cuts and wounds, the 

 Enghsh groom is excellent, and is seldom sur- 

 passed by the horsemen of any other country ; 

 but in reahsing the true nature and brain 

 capacity of the horse, and the best way of 

 handling and training the horse, the average 

 English groom seems to be less gifted than those 

 of many other countries. Of course there are 

 many brilliant exceptions, but these are mostly 

 men of mental capacity above the average, 

 who think for themselves, and have broken 

 away from the traditions and dead conser- 

 vatism of their forefathers. The value of such 

 men is inestimable. 



That this is so, those who have travelled 

 much must know to be the case, and the reason 

 which has borne best the test of investigation 

 is the somewhat curious one, namely, that the 

 great bulk of English grooms have had to do 

 only with geldings and mares bred in two's 

 and three's, and in small enclosed paddocks. 

 Many English grooms are utterly afraid of 

 staUions of any kind ; look upon them as tigers 

 and wild beasts of ungovernable propensities, 

 and would decline to enter any service where 

 they would be called upon to tend them. There 



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