58 THE CARE OF HORSES 



other gentlemen, he fully appreciated the increased 

 space allowed him for getting about. 



But what really surprised me was the boy's 

 genuine delight to learn how to harness his donkey 

 properly. Many would have been rude and told me 

 to mind my own business ; and here let me just 

 repeat one more ' wise saw ' : ' Right is right, and 

 wrong is no man's right.' So when you see the sort 

 of thing I have just described, do your best to rectify 

 it. Being * wrong,' it is not the owner's right to 

 persist in it, to the hurt of the animal he or she is 

 using. If you are received with the remark, ' That's 

 my business; you mind your own,' quietly answer, 

 'That's just it; it is my business, and everyone 

 else's, to try to do at least one good deed during 

 the twenty-four hours.' 



Notice also that the shafts are well up, and the 

 load is nicely balanced over the wheels. This is a 

 matter of very considerable importance with both 

 donkey and pony in a two-wheeled cart. One often 

 sees the load carelessly packed, so that a great part 

 of the weight is in front, especially when a hulking 

 man also sits himself down on the shafts. The 

 mistake of this is that, in addition to pulling the load 

 along the road, the donkey has also quite unneces- 

 sarily to support a great part of it on his back, and 

 his work, already quite enough, is unkindly and 

 stupidly much increased in this way. 



It is also a mistake to pack the load too far back, 

 as one sometimes sees it, as the donkey cannot pull it 

 fairly when it is half lifting him up from the ground. 

 Besides, the upward pressure of the belly-band is 

 very uncomfortable, and it is apt to rub and make 

 sores. Always balance your load well. It is wrong 

 to think that anything and any treatment is good 

 enough for a donkey. It is true that he is hardier 

 than a horse and better able to rough it, but that is 



