of Ginger; we neighed to each other as I was led off, and she trotted
anxiously along by the hedge, calling to me as long as she could hear
the sound of my feet.
Through the recommendation of York, I was bought by the master of the
livery stables. I had to go by train, which was new to me, and required
a good deal of courage the first time; but as I found the puffing,
rushing, whistling, and, more than all, the trembling of the horse-box
in which I stood did me no real harm, I soon took it quietly.
When I reached the end of my journey I found myself in a tolerably
comfortable stable, and well attended to. These stables were not so
airy and pleasant as those I had been used to. The stalls were laid on
a slope instead of being level, and as my head was kept tied to the
manger, I was obliged always to stand on the slope, which was very
fatiguing. Men do not seem to know yet that horses can do more work if
they can stand comfortably and can turn about; however, I was well fed
and well cleaned, and, on the whole, I think our master took as much
care of us as he could. He kept a good many horses and carriages of
different kinds for hire. Sometimes his own men drove them; at
others, the horse and chaise were let to gentlemen or ladies who drove
themselves.
28 A Job Horse and His Drivers
Hitherto I had always been driven by people who at least knew how to
drive; but in this place I was to get my experience of all the different
kinds of bad and ignorant driving to which we horses are subjected; for
I was a job horse , and was let out to all sorts of people who wished
to hire me; and as I was good-tempered and gentle, I think I was oftener
let out to the ignorant drivers than some of the other horses, because
I could be depended upon. It would take a long time to tell of all the
different styles in which I was driven, but I will mention a few of
them.
First, there were the tight-rein drivers--men who seemed to think that
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