312 RIDING FOR LADIES. 



over the animals' bodies. These creatures torment some 

 tender-skinned horses almost to madness ; and when a 

 stamp is given, ears put back, or a leg lifted as if in pain, 

 immediate search ought to be made for the occasion of it. 

 Horses at pasture can, as a rule, defend themselves with 

 their teeth, feet, and tails : that is, when the latter appen- 

 dages are left them ; but in this country, so eminently the 

 seat of wisdom and freedom, the effective instrument is 

 invariably removed, and Nature most unfairly handicapped, 

 — as if the sorrows of servitude are not sufficiently great 

 and numerous without augmenting them by caprice. 



Bales are simple bars of wood, used largely in cavalry 

 stables to separate the horse-stalls. They are furnished at 

 each end with iron links, by means of which they are sus- 

 pended to hooks fastened at the head and heel-posts. 

 Sometimes they are made of iron, but well-seasoned oak 

 is quite sufficiently strong for the purpose. The usual 

 dimensions are eight feet long, and four inches in diameter, 

 and they are placed at a distance of about three feet from 

 the ground. The top part may be a fixture ; but one end 

 or the other ought to be so arranged that in case of a horse 

 getting partially under it when lying down, it will move 

 readily upwards, according as the animal pushes it in his 

 rise. I have a strong objection to bales, because they 

 admit of horses biting and injuring one another, and are in 

 other ways undesirable ; but that they are cheaper than 

 travises, I am, of course, prepared to allow. It is, however, 

 almost their sole claim to notice. 



