16 THE HORSE. 



piteous lot to belong to some unfeeling or thought- 

 less employer, in which case that day of repose to 

 others is to them converted into the most laborious 

 of all the week. 



Persons in business full well know that they do 

 not pay men's wages to persons in their employment 

 until they have arrived at the age of twenty-one ; 

 not from any unjust motive, but because they have 

 not attained the strength of manhood to enable them 

 to perform men's work. It is their competency to 

 go through so much labour that entitles them to full 

 wages. Now, the horse must be from seven to eight 

 years old to put him on a par with a man~ of twenty- 

 one. \ et people are so misjudging, or rather they 

 are so ignorant of this fact, that they imagine the 

 horse is better calculated for hard work, or long 

 journeys, before than after the age mentioned. If 

 experience could teach them, they might readily per- 

 ceive the younger the horse is, the sooner he will be 

 strained and worn out, by being overtasked. Where 

 the work is light (carrying no heavy loads,) and the 

 stay frequent, at places no great distances apart, and 

 provided you drive moderately, a six year old horse 

 may suit your purpose ; that is, if you are particu- 

 larly anxious to have a mark in his mouth; if not, 

 one of seven or eight would be preferable. In cases 

 where the loads are carried liglit, and you do not often 

 rest any length of time on your route, or if your vehicle 

 is heavy, and you do not drive at a very moderate 

 pace, never choose a horse under eight years old, and 

 then he will last you longer and serve you better than 

 any young one. Stage-coach proprietors, and all 

 great dealers in horses, do not consider them aged 

 until after their sixteenth year ; and provided they 

 have not been subject to ill-usage, they will be found 

 sound and in good condition long after that period. 



Old Elwes, the celebrated miser, would not permit 

 his colts to be broken in until they were six years 



