CHAPTER III. 



GROOMS. 



It is hardly necessary for us to state that a groom 

 must be sober and honest. Drunkenness or dishonesty 

 should be punished with instant dismissal, and never 

 under any circumstances be condoned. We presume 

 that no sane man would knowingly keep a thief in his 

 employ, but many masters are induced to pardon 

 drunkenness, so that our words "instant dismissal" 

 may seem unnecessarily severe. Now, a drunken 

 groom will not only be careless and untidy, but he 

 will have no affection for the horses under his charge, 

 and take no pride in their appearance. One might as 

 well employ a drunken woman as a nurse for one's 

 children, as employ a drunken man to take charge of 

 one's horses. Besides, anybody who reads the police 

 court reports knows that drunkenness whilst in charge 

 of horses is a criminal offence. Even if the master 

 elects to risk the welfare of his horses by condoning 

 the offence, he has no right to risk the lives and 

 property of his fellow-creatures ; if he does, sooner or 

 later he will have to pay the penalty. The groom will 

 ride over a child, or knock down an old woman, then 

 woe betide the master, if it be proved that he had 

 previous knowledge of his servant's habits. Again, a 



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