KINDNESS 



a child, for all his little wants and simple pleasures. 

 He should come cantering up from the farthest 

 corner of the paddock when he hears your voice, 

 should ask to have his nose rubbed, his head 

 stroked, his neck patted, with those honest, 

 pleading looks which make the confidence of a 

 dumb creature so touching; and before a roller has 

 been put on his back, or a snaffle in his mouth, he 

 should be convinced that everything you do to him 

 is right, and that it is impossible (or you, his best 

 friend, to cause him the least uneasiness or harm. 



I once owned a mare that would push her nose 

 into my pockets in search of bread and sugar, 

 would lick my face and hands like a dog, or 

 suffer me to cling to any part of her limbs and 

 body while she stood perfectly motionless. On 

 one occasion, when I hung in the stirrup after a 

 fall, she never stirred on rising, till by a succession 

 of laborious and ludicrous efforts I could swing 

 myself back into the saddle, with my foot still fast, 

 though hounds were running hard and she loved 

 hunting dearly in her heart. As a friend re- 

 marked at the time, "The little mare seems. very 

 fond of you, or there might have been a bother ! " 



Now this affection was but the result of petting, 

 sugar, kind and encouraging words, particularly 

 at her fences, and a rigid abstinence from abuse 

 of the bridle and the spur. I shall presently have 

 something to say about both these instruments, 



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