132 THE HORSE: ITS KEEP AND MANAGEMENT. 



It is a great pity that horses should have to be punished 

 for what they cannot help, but so it is in many cases. Not 

 only is it cruelty to the animal, but when a good driver 

 comes to take him in hand he finds the poor thing is simply 

 spoiled. Horses which are let out by job masters often have 

 to suffer very much in this respect, especially when they are 

 let out to a person to drive himself. Many people who 

 hire vehicles are not accustomed to horses and the animals 

 are driven unmercifully up hill and down, it is a matter of 

 small consequence to the driver so long as the poor things 

 keep going at a good pace. Anyone living near London 

 can see a great deal of this, especially on Sundays. On 

 one main road hired traps can be numbered from one 

 hundred to three hundred if it is a fine Sunday, and 

 taking into consideration the many roads there are, it just 

 gives one some idea of the thousands of poor horses 

 which are being driven to and fro in the way I 

 have described every week. Greengrocers, grocers, 

 costermongers, and all who are anxious to make money, 

 will often let their horses out on a Sunday, but if they 

 only knew how the poor things were used, I feel certain 

 they would be more careful about letting them out. I 

 do not say they are always treated badly, but when the 

 party is going home, frequently the driver cannot see to 

 drive straight, and the whole lot are lively with what 

 they have had to drink, so the poor horse has to go as 

 fast as it can, up hill and down, no matter whether he 

 is tired out or not, and as for feeding it, many of them 

 forget the animal eats anything at all. This is what I 

 call cruelty to animals. One journey of this kind in a 



