80 STABLE ECONOMY. 



and manage the horses with skill, he must be inflexible, just, 

 sober, vigilant, careful, well acquainted with the habits of 

 horses, and the tricks of the men he has to superintend. He 

 should be a discreet tyrant, always enforcing a rigid ad« 

 herence to established rules. A man of timid or weak char- 

 acter has little chance of maintaining his authority among a 

 host of unruly strappers ; and though he have power to dis- 

 charge them, he is easily awed or misled by the bold and the 

 cunning. He should know his own place, giving no favors 

 and receiving none. If he frequent the public-house, to min- 

 gle with those who are under him, his power is lost. He 

 should not be old, yet well up in years, and perhaps married, 

 having his family upon the premises. A man with these 

 qualifications is worth liberal wages. 



Sometimes the duties of this man involve more responsi- 

 bility. Occasionally he purchases the provender, employs 

 the necessary tradesmen, such as the saddler, shoeing-smith, 

 and veterinarian, and has to do with the sale and purchase of 

 the horses.. Very few men are fit for thesx; things. Prov- 

 ender is sometimes to be had below the market price, when 

 the owner is not at hand to purchase it ; in such a case, the 

 foreman might have power to take it. But it is only upon 

 certain occasions that this, or anything like it, should be in 

 his power. Knavery is apt to creep into such transactions, 

 and the master can know little of his business if he is not 

 able to manage them better himself. They lay the man open 

 to suspicion, whether he deserves it or not. The shoeing- 

 smith and saddler always make some deduction from their 

 usual charges where there is a great deal of work to be done. 

 What men are to serve him, and what deductions are to be 

 made, should be settled by the m. ster himself. Theii work 

 is entered in the pass-book, which is paid up at short inter- 

 vals. The veterinarian should be, and generally is, allowed 

 a fixed salary for medicines, operations, and attendance. In 

 the disposal of wornout, and the purchase of new horses, 

 the foreman and the veterinarian may be both consulted, the 

 one regarding work, and the other regarding unsoundness ; 

 but where the old go or the new come from, is the business 

 of the master only. 



The foreman, perhaps, with the assistance of the shoeing- 

 smith, sometimes supplies the place of the veterinarian. In 

 this there is more folly than economy. If the work is to be 

 well done, it must be performed by men who perfectly under- 

 stand it, by men who have been bred to it. Many foremeE 



