THE STUD VEKSUS THE POCKET. 29 



there are many ; but there are also many, who, 

 intending to be the most indulgent masters living, 

 are, from not knowing what is and what is not 

 kindness to animals, quite the reverse of what 

 they wish to be. 



I have an acquaintance who owns a very clever 

 horse, and, when in proper condition, a very strik- 

 ingly-handsome one. In this sort of condition he 

 was last spring, when he purchased him. No man 

 was more disposed to be kind than his new master : 

 still when I saw the horse in his stable, only two 

 months afterwards, he was no more the same horse 

 than he was the Hero, or any other. He was one 

 of the handsomest coloured greys I ever saw, 

 except Old Isaac, who was precisely the same. 

 When I sent him to his new master he shone like a 

 bottle, was as round as one, and all the muscles in 

 their right place. His mane and tail, both of which 

 were particularly handsome, looked like spun 

 glass ; and his legs, which were remarkably good, 

 felt and looked clean and firm as iron. When I 

 next saw him, his coat was dead as a scrubbing- 

 brush, and in many parts somewhat of the same 

 colour ; his mane and tail a kind of dust colour, 

 and felt as if they had been done over with greasy 

 water ; his muscles flabby, and his legs filled and 

 flaccid ; in fact, if he had bought the horse of a 

 dealer, and had given a hundred for him, the 

 man would have been quite justified if he had 



