8 HORSES AiS^D ROADS. 



and hills in the country roads are constantly to be 

 met with both longer and steeper than those to be 

 found in London, although not always so slippery. 

 In these cases their horses suffer, at least, as much 

 deterioration as any of those hitherto mentioned. 

 They load the carts heavily, as they try to work 

 near, and so make their horses ' earn their living,' 

 as they really should do in their case, which is at 

 present a hard one; but they should consider 

 thoughtfully whether it is profitable to make a 

 horse work hard when going down hill, and so 

 injuring him really more than in drawing a load 

 up hill. 



The foregoing remarks have been made to lead 

 up to such cases, although it is open to any other 

 parties to profit by them if they choose. It has been 

 said that ' the work which kills one horse will bring 

 in money enough to buy another ; ' but this is a 

 great fallacy — in fact, an immense mistake, as it is 

 generally interpreted. Besides, it is evident that 

 no horse can possibly pull over a certain weight 

 up a certain ascent ; yet often a single shaft horse is 

 expected, and obliged, to do his best to keep back, 

 without mechanical help, the same weight which 

 has required two, or often three, horses to drag 

 it up the same incline in a two-wheeled cart. Is 

 this rational, or even economical, when well con- 

 sidered ? There is another saying, common among 

 horsemen, that ' one horse can wear out four pairs of 

 legs ; ' but it is also rational to believe that Nature 

 gave the horse the same requisite number of legs 



