MANAGEMENT OF THE STALLION. 51 



vented the whip. If the horse is inclined to nip 

 at and bother his mate, tie a staff of the proper 

 length according to the job on hand from the 

 inner ring of his bit to the shank-ring of a 

 halter on the head of the other horse in the pair, 

 or to the upper ring on the hames. Use good 

 stout harness and never forget that there is a 

 stallion in the team. Do not let him yell and 

 squeal and generally make a nuisance of him- 

 self. Make him behave like a gentleman. 



In addition to the good health and vigor 

 which accrue to the stallion kept in regular 

 work in the harness there are other blessings 

 which he wins through having to earn his daily 

 bread. One, and I count it among the most im- 

 portant, is the companionship of man, and an- 

 other is a good place to sleep and eat. Thrice 

 blessed is the stallion which works every day, 

 lives in cleanliness and comfort among the other 

 horses, sees human beings and often hears the 

 human voice. Thrice cursed is the poor beast 

 which is banished to some out of the way corner 

 of the farmstead, closed up in some dirty old 

 stall, banked deep, perhaps, with manure, forced 

 to seek the light of day and the fresh air in a 

 yard which, never cleansed, is in damp weather 

 a compound essence of filth and other abomina- 

 tions, and fed more or less occasionally when 

 some one happens to remember about him. Free- 

 ly worked, the legs of a stallion will seldom go 

 wrong. Condemned to solitary confinement in 



