xx PREFACE. 



pot-house, while the services of the jobmaster have 

 to be requisitioned. He looks again into his book 

 and tries to study up the ailment from which his 

 horse is suffering. If lucky enough to find any 

 mention of it, he very soon comes to the conclusion 

 that it is beyond him altogether. He can't under- 

 stand all the scientific terms and long names given, 

 and so he shies the book away, and begins to think 

 that he will stick to the jobmaster in future ; and 

 perhaps his decision is not an unwise one after all. 

 But his interest in his horse has gone. He cares 

 nothing for the jobmaster or his horses ; they don't 

 belong to him, and so long as they draw or carry 

 him about he is satisfied. And so his dream of 

 any pleasure to be derived from a stable of his own 

 has vanished, and all for the want of a little know- 

 ledge, which he would gladly gain if he only knew 

 where to obtain it. It is this little knowledge I 

 wish to impart : just enough to enable a man to 

 manage his stable with the ' eye of a master,' and 

 to protect himself from the troubles caused by the 

 carelessness and dishonesty of his servants ; to 

 make his stable a pleasure to him, and to keep 

 his horses fit to look at and fit to work. I aim at 

 nothing more, and if my efforts prove successful in 

 any one single instance, I shall feel that they have 

 not been quite wasted. 



