RACEALONG 9 



ceding day. After sampling it he pawed the turf 

 until it was broken and some of the earth mixed with 

 the water making it look like a delightful spot for 

 a mud wallow. 



Down Peter went for a roll which was accompanied 

 by a series of grunts showing his satisfaction with 

 this new feature on his liberty day ticket. Rolling on 

 one side until it was soaked with the water and 

 stained by the grass and soil Peter turned over after 

 a number of attempts and gave the other side 

 nature's treatment for animal comfort in the open. 



When he finally bounded to his feet Peter Man- 

 ning was a sight. His light bay coat from his shoul- 

 ders to his tail was wet and marked with grass and 

 earth stains. One-half of his mane was on the 

 wrong side of his neck while a little stream of water 

 trickled from his thoroughly soaked tail. Peter was 

 happy. He had found protection from the flies 

 which bite sharply during the autumn days. 



As the sun began to dip towards the horizon the 

 groom came to the paddock gate with a halter in 

 his hand to lead Peter back to his stall. Peter de- 

 cided that he would not be taken up. For half an 

 hour he would either come up to the man or let 

 him approach but when he made a move to put on 

 his halter Peter bounded with a snort to the other 

 side of the paddock. When coaxing and offers of 

 sugar did not get any result the matter was re- 

 ported to Lawrence Sheppard. He told the man to 

 let him remain in the paddock. 



No more attention was paid to Peter Manning 



