434 BREEDING. 



when he entered as a student at the Royal Yeterinaiy College. His 

 mind became confused by the new sort of companions which he encoun- 

 tered ; by the novel objects which surrounded him ; and by the strange 

 kind of knowledge he was required to master. This confusion was the 

 greater, because previous habit in the writer had not rendered him 

 familiar with horse flesh. An animal, therefore, was needed, so that 

 reference might be made to its body for an explanation of the books 

 which the pupil was expected to comprehend. At length, in the corner 

 of a back yard was discovered a lonely, loose box. Inside there was a 

 quadruped; and to this place the volume was daily taken, with various 

 morsels of bread or vegetable. Thus, between feeding, reading, examin- 

 ing and caressing, many an afternoon was most pleasantly whiled away. 



It was necessary to indulge in certain intimate familiarities. Some- 

 times to change the position of the animal, or to finger its lower extremi- 

 ties. When doing this, the author possessed no jockeyship to protect 

 him, neither was he conscious that any protection was necessary. He 

 used to shut himself up with the companion of his studies; and the 

 hours thus spent he now remembers as among the very happiest of his 

 existence. 



More than a fortnight's leisure had been pleasantly occupied, when, as 

 the writer was one afternoon stealing to the being which lightened the 

 tedium of his studies, and was in the act of opening the door, a number 

 of fellow-students detected him so engaged. " Mayhew I Mayhew 1" 

 the group shouted, as with one voice, "where are you going? Don't 

 open that door! 'Yan Amburg' is there ! He's a kicker and a biter 1 

 You'll be killed 1 Don't open the door !" 



Yan Amburg was the name of the thorough-bred racer, which had 

 been sent to the College "for operation," because of its supposed ferocity. 

 Tet I, a novice, had passed many an hour in its society, and assert I 

 could not have desired a more gentle companion. We have often laid 

 long together side by side ; or, as I reclined upon the straw, reading, the 

 head would rest upon my shoulder, while a full stream of fragrant 

 warmth would salute my cheek. Still, such a creature, so open to ad- 

 vances, so grateful for little kindnesses, was a reputed savage ! Proba- 

 bly its real disposition continued to be maligned, and remains now 

 unknown, save only to him whose ignorance was made happier by a dis- 

 covery of the truth. 



A training stable is not calculated to develop the true disposition of 

 a high-spirited animal. A horse generally retains the character which 

 is earned in such a place. When no longer running, but kept for 

 "service," — boxed up and chained, debarred from all freedom of motion, 

 highly fed, and teased to the performance of his office, — such a creature 



