take horse balls and draughts;
which, beside the nuisance of having them poured down my throat, used to
make me feel ill and uncomfortable.

One day my feet were so tender that, trotting over some fresh stones
with my master on my back, I made two such serious stumbles that, as he
came down Lansdown into the city, he stopped at the farrier's, and asked
him to see what was the matter with me. The man took up my feet one
by one and examined them; then standing up and dusting his hands one
against the other, he said:

"Your horse has got the 'thrush', and badly, too; his feet are very
tender; it is fortunate that he has not been down. I wonder your groom
has not seen to it before. This is the sort of thing we find in foul
stables, where the litter is never properly cleaned out. If you will
send him here to-morrow I will attend to the hoof, and I will direct
your man how to apply the liniment which I will give him."

The next day I had my feet thoroughly cleansed and stuffed with tow
soaked in some strong lotion; and an unpleasant business it was.

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 ha