6 WINTER SKETCHES. 



Don't trust the most honest face in the 

 world in the matter of oats. See them put 

 into the manger, and hang about the stable 

 until your horse is fed. Get your own dinner 

 afterwards, for you are of less importance. If 

 your table is not properly served you can com- 

 plain. Your horse cannot. Do not overload 

 him with much baggage. Dead weight tells 

 upon him more that live weight. Dismount 

 occasionally when about to descend a long or 

 steep hill. You will thus relieve the horse and 

 vary the exercise of your own muscles. Wear 

 a woollen shirt and let him carry your night- 

 shirt, hair-brush, tooth-brush, bathing sponge, 

 a few collars and handkerchiefs ; they will weigh 

 but little over two pounds and will be all suf- 

 ficient. 



Feed your horse with four quarts of oats in 

 the morning, two at noon and six at night, 

 and with all the hay that he cares to eat. 



Now let us start on a short ride of twenty- 

 eight miles and return. 



It is the middle of November, in a season 

 when the autumn has prematurely succumbed 

 to the frosts of winter, and the scene of our 

 departure is at Lake Mohegan, one of those 

 beautiful and romantic basins among the hills 



