414 AGRICULTUIIE AND THE HORSE. 



upon the horse, without breaking ; no animal organiza- 

 tion could possibly endure it without serious, almost 

 incalculable, injury. It is useless, therefore, to close 

 our eyes to this natural and artificial defect in the 

 horse ; and, bearing in mind that he has been brought 

 to this condition by his hard service for *man, it seems 

 to me, that, instead of condemning him for his weak- 

 ness, we ought to help him out of his trouble. 



For one, sir, I do not condemn a horse on account 

 of unsoundness until I am satisfied that he has got be- 

 yond an alleviating remedy, and has become useless. 

 I think one of the most touching sights in the world 

 is a lame or disabled horse engaged in his daily toil. 

 I realize how he came to this painful condition; and I 

 feel that I am under a sort of sacred obligation to bear 

 patiently and generously the defects of my own faithful 

 servant. So I am always slow to condemn a horse for 

 unsoundness: in the first place, on account of my charity 

 for him ; in the next place, because nearly every horse 

 has some defect, of more or less importance, which one 

 must bear and excuse ; and, lastly, because, taken in 

 season, and properly treated, almost every form of un- 

 soundness can be alleviated, and virtually removed for 

 all practical purposes. It is idle to expect Nature, un- 

 unassisted, to cure unsoundness; and it is useless to 

 hope to remove it in any form by neglect.^ It is neither 

 wise nor humane, cither to shut your eyes to the first 

 approaches of the local difiiculty, or to delay your atten- 

 tion to it when discovered, in the hope that somehow 



