THE ETHICS OF HORSE-KEEPING. 19 



window. Whenever a stranger stepped into his stall 

 he would give a snort and back into the farthest cor- 

 ner." Splan, with some difficulty, obtained the ser- 

 vices of a quiet, faithful " rubber " or groom called 

 "Dave." Dave procured a dog as additional com- 

 pany for Johnston, and these three remained insep- 

 arable through the period of Johnston's training. It 

 was a matter of course that the groom should sleep 

 in the stall, but he never left it, day or night, having 

 all his meals brought there. Under this treatment 

 Johnston rapidly improved. He became less ner- 

 vous, ate better, and in the event lowered the pacing 

 record to 2.06^, a mark which has not yet been sur- 

 passed upon a regulation track. 



There remains only one branch of the subject which 

 I feel bound to consider, namely, the duty of the 

 owner toward the horse that has grown old and in- 

 firm in his service. I say little about the man who 

 employs horses in the course of his business ; let him 

 settle the matter with his own conscience, though I 

 cannot refrain from the obvious remark, that whereas 

 it might be a poor man's duty to sell his superannu- 

 ated beast for what he would bring, lest his family 

 should suffer, so it would be the rich man's duty to 

 dispose of his work horses in a different manner. But 

 as regards horses bought and used for pleasure this 

 general rule seems to me undeniable, that the owner 

 is morally bound to protect them from cruelty when 

 they become old or broken down. He may do it by 

 killing them, or otherwise, as he sees fit. But how 

 seldom is this duty performed ! It is neglected, pos- 

 sibly, more from thoughtlessness than from intention. 

 A span of carriage horses, we will say, after some 



