t t 



ears. A gentleman starting rather late in the evening 

 . from an hotel yard, accompanied by his little son, whom 

 he was bringing from school for his holidays, and on 

 stepping into the gig (without taking his customafy survey 

 of the harness) the animal, a very fast mare, bounded 

 away; the driver losing all control of his steed, tried and 

 tried again to check her headlong anxiety to reach her 

 stable, jerking the reins, coaxing and shouting, all of which 

 were of no avail, and to add to the agony of the father 

 his little son began to scream and cry, but not a solitary 

 human being could be seen on the road, and fortunately 

 no vehicle was passed the whole distance, eight and a half 

 miles, and the mare being used to the road, and a good 

 tempered animal, deliberately pulled up of her own 

 accord, and trotted them gently and safely to their own 

 door. The cause of her wild behaviour was discovered to 

 be, that the bit had not been put into the animal's mouth 

 before starting, and the driver had been constantly pulling 

 away at, and hanging on to, the nose-band and cheeks of 

 the bridle all the distance, which new proceeding was 

 more calculated to excite the mare than to stop her. 

 Therefore, the moral is, that no matter who may have 

 the care or charge of the steed, in the temporary 

 absence of the owner or driver, all persons or attendants 

 are liable at some time or other to have their attention 

 called away during the process of fixing the harness upon 

 the horse, and attaching the horse to the vehicle ; so 

 the driver should never mount the box without havine 

 first felt and examined the easy bearings and proper 

 adjustment of the whole set. 



Great want of consideration for the horse is at 

 times noticeable in the loading of vehicles, especially 

 waggonettes for pic-nic parties ; and it is a standing fact 

 that market carriers generally, and pleasure seekers in 



1 t 



