THE CARE OF HORSES. 287 
anger and contempt with which a certain blacksmith, 
a good mechanic, moreover, once told me of a present 
that he had just received from ‘a grateful customer. 
It was a work on the diseases of the hoof, written by 
a Vet of five times his experience and ten times his 
information. “To think,” he exclaimed, in the tone 
of one whose pride had received a wanton insult, — 
“to think that any book could teach me anything 
about the foot of a hoss!” 
Now I fear that we horsemen are all more or less 
like this blacksmith; and accordingly I address my- 
self, not to the craft, but to the ordinary horse owner, 
who has acquired no special knowledge of the animal, 
and who does not enjoy the services of a stud-groom. 
Nevertheless, I make bold to say that among the fol- 
lowing pages will be found a few original remarks, 
worthy the attention even of a horseman. It would 
be odd indeed had I failed to pick up an idea or two 
concerning matters that lie so near my heart. And 
here I might repeat what was said to me last sum- 
mer by a middle-aged farmer, a rough, grizzle-headed 
“Down-easter.”. We stood in his barnyard on a 
pleasant Sunday afternoon, while a weanling filly 
—whose high merits had just been pointed out — 
contentedly chewed an enormous and horny thumb 
extended by her master for that purpose. Suddenly 
the farmer turned to me,— being careful, however, 
not to disengage his thumb,—and remarked, with 
an obvious and unusual effort at introspection, “I 
like a good horse awful well!” So do I,—so, I 
am persuaded, does the reader, —and accordingly, 
with his permission, we will put on our hats, and 
saunter out to 
