4 THE OWNER JUDGED BY HIS TURN-OUT. 



house; at some time he is forced into drawing a comparison 

 between a passing trap and his own, and is surprised to find 

 that the other horses appear to go better with the carriage 

 and with each other; the harness, the horses and the whole 

 turn-out have a smoother and more pleasing effect to the eye 

 than his equally expensive ones. Symmetry is not the result 

 of chance, but of thought, care, a knowledge of details and 

 careful attention, combined with judgment and good taste. 



When it is considered that to educated persons a vehicle 

 is as indicative of the character of the owner as are his man- 

 ners, dress and household surroundings, it is but natural that 

 he should wish to qualify himself to give the subject of this 

 essay his attention and personal supervision. It may be 

 asked, why turn a source of pleasure into a care by the 

 annoyance its management would in all likelihood entail.? 

 Without considering the moral duty, which any possession 

 implies to exist, it may be said, that an individual who is less 

 informed than those who are serving him is not qualified to 

 govern, and a person unfit to intelligently control the care of 

 his possessions is the sufferer from his own folly and incom- 

 petency. 



To be constantly driven in an ill-appointed vehicle is an 

 unconscious acknowledgment of bad taste or ignorance, and 

 the author joins the critical onlooker in a common regret, 

 that the possession of wealth should so often serve to empha- 

 size the lack of refinement and good taste by expenditures 

 which make the owner an object of pity, if not of ridicule. 

 Yet there is, and unfortunately always will be, a class of peo- 

 ple utilizing horses and carriages who know nothing, and, 

 what is far worse, care nothing about the welfare of their 

 animals, unless they are actually incapacitated. This is seen 



