INJURY BY NEGLECT. 39 



CHAPTER V. 



EXPERIENCE WITH HORSES INJURED BY ABUSE AND 

 NEGLECT. 



IST. Not to weary the reader with something of pro- 

 lixity, before touching on horseback riding (in which 

 Baucher will occupy a conspicuous part) or the many 

 trifling diseases incidental to a gentleman's horse, I will 

 narrate one or two circumstances that came under my 

 notice, to show the effects of abuse and neglect. First, a 

 mare high-bred, beautiful, and fast bought by a friend 

 for a very high price in old times had a habit of untying 

 her halter, consequently she was neglected and abused by 

 the grooms to such an extent that she was pronounced 

 worthless and sent to me. I bought her at about one-tenth 

 of her original cost. The groom on landing her at my 

 place said, "By my sowl, you'll never kape her tied, sir; 

 she's the divil let loose entirely." "Very well," I said, 

 "put her in the stable." I put a few hard knots on her 

 strap, my man put a few more, I allowed the stable- 

 door to remain open purposely, and went in to dinner ; 

 that over, the mare was quietly grazing in the lawn. When 

 driven into the stable she was like a culprit, shaking like 

 an aspen leaf, expecting of course a good sound beating; 

 instead of which I spoke to her kindly, cut off her halter- 

 strap three and a half feet from the chin-piece, and sent 

 that to the nearest saddler and had buckle and billet put 

 on, that buckled into the ring of feed-box. There being 

 no knot to untie, all the trouble that caused such an 

 amount of swearing, beating, and neglect, was done away 



