FIRE HORSES. 245 
to have thrown, at one time and another, aveap boty 
who has ridden him to exercise, except the captain. 
John’s sense of discipline is so strong that he draws 
the line there. While used as a leader his stall is 
different from the usual one; and when on one occa: 
sion, having occupied it for some weeks, the third 
horse was dispensed with, and John was put back in 
his old quarters, he rightly and sagaciously concluded 
that his former place on the engine should also be re- 
sumed, and accordingly, at the next alarm, he ran to 
the pole, instead of going in front. 
The finest engine horse that I have seen is, I think, 
the near one of a dark gray team used in: Boston. 
This is what horsemen call “a big little ’un,” that is, 
a stout animal on short legs. He is a comparatively 
small horse, standing 15 hands 3 inches, and weighing 
1,320 pounds; but he is big where bigness is required. 
He has a broad chest, a tremendous shoulder, deep 
lungs, a big barrel, a short back, and strong hind 
quarters. His legs are flat and clean, his feet of just 
the right size, and he has a broad forehead and an in- 
telligent eye. Possibly his shoulder is a little too 
upright, and there is a suspicion of hollowness in his 
back, but otherwise he seemed to me an ideal engine 
horse. His mate is handsomer in some respects, and 
more gentle, but a trifle too long in the back and 
legs. 
Beside the engine, hose-wagon, and ladder truck 
horses, there are others, used to haul coal and sup- 
plies, to carry men and tools for the repair of wires, 
etc. These are chiefly old, partly broken down ani- 
mals, no longer fit for the hard and rapid work of 
running to fires. Then there are smaller nags, weigh- 
