THE HORSE, HIS ORIGIN, ETC. 37 



by his fierceness as well as by his strength and swiftness ; in the stables 

 of careless opulence, he becomes the pampered victim of abundance, and 

 falls a prey to diseases that come by irregular exercise and surfeiting ; 

 with hard and driving task-masters, in the marts of trade, and subject to 

 the exactions of business, he is soon stiffened, spavined, and generally 

 broken as to both conformation and locomotion ; while among the poorer 

 class of tillers of the soil and other toilers, he seems to become spiritless 

 and dull, and subject to diseases that come rather from want of care 

 than from either over-work or actual deprivation of food and drink. 



In his best estate, he is the noblest of the lower animals ; in his worst, 

 he is still a property of man, and a helper in his work. A knowledge 

 of his ailments, and the possession of that skill necessary to his relief, is 

 therefore essential to every one who owns even the commonest of the 

 kpecios. 



3 



