The farrier ordered all the litter to be taken out of my box day by day,
and the floor kept very clean. Then I was to have bran mashes, a little
green food, and not so much corn, till my feet were well again. With
this treatment I soon regained my spirits; but Mr. Barry was so much
disgusted at being twice deceived by his grooms that he determined to
give up keeping a horse, and to hire when he wanted one. I was therefore
kept till my feet were quite sound, and was then sold again.
Part III
32 A Horse Fair
No doubt a horse fair is a very amusing place to those who have nothing
to lose; at any rate, there is plenty to see.
Long strings of young horses out of the country, fresh from the marshes;
and droves of shaggy little Welsh ponies, no higher than Merrylegs; and
hundreds of cart horses of all sorts, some of them with their long tails
braided up and tied with scarlet cord; and a good many like myself,
handsome and high-bred, but fallen into the middle class, through some
accident or blemish, unsoundness of wind, or some other complaint. There
were some splendid animals quite in their prime, and fit for anything;
they were throwing out their legs and showing off their paces in high
style, as they were trotted out with a leading rein, the groom running
by the side. But round in the background there were a number of poor
things, sadly broken down with hard work, with their knees knuckling
over and their hind legs swinging out at every step, and there were some
very dejected-looking old horses, with the under lip hanging down and
the ears lying back heavily, as if there were no more pleasure in life,
and no more hope; there were some so thin you might see all their ribs,
and some with old sores on their backs and hips. These were sad sights
for a horse to look upon, who knows not but he may come to the same
state.
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