CHAPTER V. 

 The Horse at Pasture 



WE are accustomed to speak of the turning 

 out of our horses to pasture as if we 

 had thereby conferred upon them the greatest 

 boon imaginable, and consigned them to a sort of 

 " promised land," where all deserving animals may 

 meet their just reward for constant and patient ser- 

 vice by wandering at will through flowery meadows 

 and beside loitering brooks, feasting upon the lus- 

 cious grasses and resting at ease beneath the grateful 

 shade of sheltering trees ; finding there a haven for 

 rest, and for recuperation of the most revivifying 

 character, and returning thence, as autumn's chill 

 begins to render the nights too cold and the grasses 

 less succulent, to a thoughtful master's stable, brim- 

 ming over with thankfulness to him for his merciful 

 kindness, and well furnished as to ribs and carcass 



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