14 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
showed his intelligence and docility in many other 
ways; and yet he had begun his career in harness by 
killing two or three men, more or less, and the sur- 
geon, who perceived that the horse was naturally 
kind, and that his temper had been soured by ill 
treatment, purchased him for a song. He served his 
master faithfully for more than twenty years. 
I do not mean to say that a nervous horse is always 
courageous and always intelligent, nor to imply that 
courageous intelligent horses are invariably nervous.’ 
But these qualities commonly go together; and as the 
horse is distinguished from all other dumb beasts by 
a highly developed nervous system, if I may be for- 
given for repeating the statement, so the finest speci- 
mens of the genus are usually those in which this 
development is most conspicuous. Hence, in dealing 
with the horse, more than with most animals, one 
ought to exercise patience, care, and, above all, the 
power of sympathy, so as to know, if possible, the 
real motive of his doing or refusing to do this or 
that. To acquire such knowledge, and to act upon 
it when acquired, is a large part of the ethics of 
horse-keeping. 
In the matter of shying, for example, great dis- 
crimination needs to be exercised. Everybody knows 
1 Tt happens sometimes, though rarely, that a courageous horse 
is sluggish and has to be “aroused,” even by the whip. Such an an- 
imal is the trotting stallion Wedgewood, one of the best “ finishers” 
ever seen on the track, and famous for winning races of numerous 
heats against speedier but less enduring competitors. Another type 
is that of the ambitious, but soft and washy horse, who goes off 
at a great pace, but soon tires. The ideal roadster starts slowly, 
gradually warms to his work, and after ten miles or so (just when 
the inferior horse has had enough) begins to be full of play. 
Such pre-eminently is the habit of the Morgan family. 
