no consideration.
These people never think of getting out to walk up a steep hill. Oh, no,
they have paid to ride, and ride they will! The horse? Oh, he's used
to it! What were horses made for, if not to drag people uphill? Walk! A
good joke indeed! And so the whip is plied and the rein is chucked and
often a rough, scolding voice cries out, Go along, you lazy beast! And
then another slash of the whip, when all the time we are doing our
very best to get along, uncomplaining and obedient, though often sorely
harassed and down-hearted.
This steam-engine style of driving wears us up faster than any other
kind. I would far rather go twenty miles with a good considerate driver
than I would go ten with some of these; it would take less out of me.
Another thing, they scarcely ever put on the brake, however steep the
downhill may be, and thus bad accidents sometimes happen; or if they do
put it on, they often forget to take it off at the bottom of the hill,
and more than once I have had to pull halfway up the next hill, with one
of the wheels held by the brake, before my driver chose to think about
it; and that is a terrible strain on a horse.
Then these cockneys, instead of starting at an easy pace, as a gentleman
would do, generally set off at full speed from the very stable-yard; and
when they want to stop, they first whip us, and then pull up so suddenly
that we are nearly thrown on our haunches, and our mouths jagged with
the bit--they call that pulling up with a dash; and when they turn a
corner they do it as sharply as if there were no right side or wrong
side of the road.
I well remember one spring evening I and Rory had been out for the day.
(Rory was the horse that mostly went with me when a pair was ordered,
and a good honest fellow he was.) We had our own driver, and as he was
always considerate and gentle with us, we had a very pleasant day. We
were coming home at a good smart pace, about twilight. Our road turned
sharp to the left; but as we were close to the hedge on our own side,
and there was plenty of room to pass, our driver did not pull us in. As
we neared the corner I heard a horse and two wheels coming rapidly down
the hill toward us. The hedge was high, and I could see nothing, but the
next moment we were upon each other. Happily for me, I was on the side
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