192 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



End Road, being in want of a horse, inquired of a 

 friend if lie knew of a saddle-nag for sale. The reply 

 of the friend was that he had one himself to dispose 

 of, which he could recommend were it not for his 

 unconquerable dread of swine, which rendered him 

 dangerous either to ride or drive, and on which ac- 

 count alone he must part with him. Mr. Grant was 

 not a person to be dismayed at trifles, and was also 

 possessed of much quickness of perception, as the 

 sequel will prove. Under a conviction that he could 

 remedy this evil, he bought the horse, whose cure he 

 set about by the purchase of a sow and a large litter of 

 pigs. The horse, sow, and pigs were all then turned 

 together in a sort of barn stable, well littered down 

 with straw, where, with the exception of giving them 

 food, they were never disturbed. The snortings, 

 kickings, squeakings, and gruntings were, for two 

 or three days, great and continual; and the conse- 

 quence was that three or four of the younglings were 

 demolished ; but gradually the uproar ceased, and in 

 a fortnight's time the lady mother was seen under 

 the very belly of the horse, searching for the grains 

 of corn left in the straw, with her progeny actively 

 engaged around her.' 



The ill-treatment a horse receives from stablemen 

 sometimes makes the animal behave in a way that 

 earns for it the character of vicious. A change of 

 attendants or a different rider will sometimes bring 

 a reform in the animal's manners. 



