4 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



hoofs, and the rattling of chains that soon became 

 a regular occurrence whenever I set foot upon the 

 threshold. I have known better educated, village- 

 bred persons of the same stamp, men of a kind 

 that command, when they die, half-column obit- 

 uary notices in the papers, who took a vicious de- 

 light in stoning dogs off their lawns, and who would 

 have been moved to scorn by any show of affection 

 for a horse. 



People whose attitude toward dumb animals is of 

 this character not only fail of their duty, but miss a 

 vast amount of happiness. Horses are to be enjoyed 

 in other ways than those of riding and driving. To 

 become familiar with their characters and peculiarities, 

 of which latter horses have many ; to see them com- 

 fortable in their stalls, sleek, well fed, well groomed, 

 warmly blanketed ; to give them affection, and to re- 

 ceive it back ; finally, to take a pride in them, and, 

 frankly speaking, to brag about them without being 

 more unveracious than a fairly good conscience will 

 allow, — this it is to enjoy a horse. In this matter, as 

 in all others where motives are concerned, the good 

 and bad, or at least the good and indifferent, in human 

 nature can be made to co-operate ; the sense of duty 

 may be reinforced by a more spontaneous feeling, 

 namely, the pride of ownership. In fact, to lay a 

 foundation for the exercise of this quality should 

 always be a chief object in buying a horse. Let your 

 new purchase have that about him concerning which 

 you can declare, with sufficient plausibility to defy 

 absolute contradiction, that he stands in the very 

 front rank of equine excellence ; as that he is the 

 most speedy, or the most enduring, or the hand- 



