5 1 S The Book of the Horse. 



to his master. ITis first duty is to drive well, and this is a delicate and difficult task. The art of 

 starting, rushing along and round the corners of London streets at great speed, and stopping 

 suddenly at a succession of houses or shops, without jolting or jerking or discomposing the nerves 

 of an hysterical lady or gouty lord, is very difficult to acquire, and when acquired worth high 

 wages. But if one of these autocrats of the coachbox does happen to lose his place and his 

 character he falls very low indeed. He is essentially an article of luxury and ornament. 



If in addition to the art of town driving, he adds that of superior stable management, and 

 turns out " his " horses and carriages fed, groomed, dressed, and cleaned in the very best manner, at 

 not too extravagant a cost for a rich man's purse, then he is in his proper place in an establish- 

 ment where the best of everything is expected to be provided, and cost is a matter of little 

 importance. 



Indeed, the wages of a coachman or stud-groom in a large establishment are quite a secondary 

 consideration, if for these wages he makes every man under him do his duty, and keeps the stable 

 expenses down to honest prices. 



Strappers — mere machines who work well under a master's eye — are always to be had for the 

 average wages of the district ; but first-rate stud-grooms, like good managers, good foremen of any 

 kind, who will see that every department of a great establishment is kept in the best possible order 

 without waste or robbery, are always scarce, and always valuable in proportion, whether it be in the 

 management of a warehouse or a stable. 



In every stable of any importance there must be one person who understands how to get and 

 keep horses in blooming condition, and if he is not a good coachman or a good horseman, it is 

 better to hire another person to perform either of those duties than to have the all-important point 

 of condition neglected. It is high praise of a servant to say, "He is a capital stableman; his horses 

 always look well and go well." 



The head of the stable must have the power of engaging and discharging the grooms under 

 him, subject of course to the nominal approval of the master before an engagement or discharge. 

 Without this power no head man can preserve the needful discipline. If it is found that, from bad 

 temper or an insolent overbearing disposition, which is too often the failing of half-educated persons 

 promoted to a position of authority, your stable premier is not to be trusted, your only remedy is 

 to discharge him. No remonstrances have any effect on a really ill-tempered man, and, although 

 discipline is essential, the despotism of a cantankerous temper is as mischievous in a stable as 

 in a regiment. 



Although a head servant to be fully useful must have confidence reposed in him, and a certain 

 degree of patronage allowed him, the master is sure to suffer who allows a head groom to become 

 his master. 



When a coachman continually has a horse "lame," "sick," or "off his feed," or needing 

 shoeing, when he is wanted for either day or night work, or when he is always grumbling at the 

 horses supplied by the job-master, without having any specific complaint to make, the proper plan 

 is to get rid of the coachman. The same rule applies to the management of hunters, or other 

 riding horses : if they are not fit, the groom is not fit. Therefore, in engaging a head man, it 

 is as well to tell him that his place depends not only on sobriety, honesty, and punctuality, but 

 on the horses always being fit to be seen, and fit for real work, or ornamental work, as the case 

 may be. 



In the town servant appearance has its value ; in the country general utility is more to be 

 considered. 



As a rule the most expensive servants do the least work, but then they are ornamental. 



