14 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



showed his intelligence and docility in many other 

 ways ; and yet he had begun his career in harness by 

 killing two or three men, more or less, and the sur- 

 geon, who perceived that the horse was naturally 

 kind, and that his temper had been soured by ill 

 treatment, purchased him for a song. He served his 

 master faithfully for more than twenty years. 



I do not mean to say that a nervous horse is always 

 courageous and always intelligent, nor to imply that 

 courageous intelligent horses are invariably nervous. 1 

 But these qualities commonly go together ; and as the 

 horse is distinguished from all other dumb beasts by 

 a highly developed nervous system, if I may be for- 

 given for repeating the statement, so the finest speci- 

 mens of the genus are usually those in which this 

 development is most conspicuous. Hence, in dealing 

 with the horse, more than with most animals, one 

 ought to exercise patience, care, and, above all, the 

 power of sympathy, so as to know, if possible, the 

 real motive of his doing or refusing to do this or 

 that. To acquire such knowledge, and to act upon 

 it when acquired, is a large part of the ethics of 

 horse-keeping. 



In the matter of shying, for example, great dis- 

 crimination needs to be exercised. Everybody knows 



1 It happens sometimes, though rarely, that a courageous horse 

 is sluggish and has to be " aroused.'' even by the whip. Such an an- 

 imal is the trotting stallion Wedgewood, one of the best " finishers " 

 ever seen on the track, and famous for winning races of numerous 

 heats against speedier but less enduring competitors. Another type 

 is that of the ambitious, but soft and washy horse, who goes off 

 at a great pace, but soon tires. The ideal roadster starts slowly, 

 gradually warms to his work, and after ten miles or so (just when 

 the inferior horse has had enough) begins to be fall of play. 

 Such pre-eminently is the habit of the Morgan family. 



