THE CARRIAGE-HORSE. 73 



Litter you horse deepe, and in the days of harvest let it also 



lye under him. Dress your horse twice a day.' 



Taylor, the Water-Poet, who was a contemporary and friend 



of Shakespeare, describes a journey which he made in 1647, in 



the following words : 



We took our coach, two coachmen, and four horses, 



And merrily from London made our courses. 



We wheel'd the top of the heavy hill call'd Holborn 



(Up which hath been full many a sinful soul borne), 



And so along we jolted past St. Giles's, 



Which place from Brentford six, or near seven miles is. 



To Staines that night at five o'clock we coasted, 



Where, at the Bush, we had bak'd, boil'd, and roasted. 



Bright Sol's illustrious rays the day adorning, 



We past Bagshot and Bawwaw Friday morning. 



That night we lodg'd at the White Hart at Alton, 



And had good meat a table with a salt on. 



Next morn we rose with blushing-cheek'd Aurora ; 



The ways were fair, but not so fair as Flora, 



For Flora was a goddess and a woman, 



And, like the highways, to all men was common. 



Our horses, with the coach which we went into, 



Did hurry us amain, through thick and thin too ; 



With fiery speed, the foaming bits they champ'd on 



And brought us to the Dolphin at Southampton. 



Horses that come fresh from a dealer's have usually been 

 fed on soft food. When first brought into a stable they will 

 require a dose of physic, gentle exercise, beginning with 

 walking and gradually increasing in amount and pace, and a 

 diet of hard corn for a week or a fortnight before they will be 

 fit to do hard work. When a horse has once got into good 

 condition he should have, as far as possible, regular work 

 that is to say, he should have nearly as much exercise on idle 

 days as he would be likely to have work when used by his 

 master. 



For horses in ordinary condition and used for moderate 

 driving, two hours a day should be ample, though, as a matter 

 of fact, it is probable that few horses get more than one. Horses 



