h the master, who gave him the run of the park; he
sometimes did a little light carting on the estate, or carried one of
the young ladies when they rode out with their father, for he was very
gentle and could be trusted with a child as well as Merrylegs. The cob
was a strong, well-made, good-tempered horse, and we sometimes had a
little chat in the paddock, but of course I could not be so intimate
with him as with Ginger, who stood in the same stable.

06 Liberty

I was quite happy in my new place, and if there was one thing that I
missed it must not be thought I was discontented; all who had to do with
me were good and I had a light airy stable and the best of food. What
more could I want? Why, liberty! For three years and a half of my life
I had had all the liberty I could wish for; but now, week after week,
month after month, and no doubt year after year, I must stand up in a
stable night and day except when I am wanted, and then I must be just
as steady and quiet as any old horse who has worked twenty years. Straps
here and straps there, a bit in my mouth, and blinkers over my eyes.
Now, I am not complaining, for I know it must be so. I only mean to say
that for a young horse full of strength and spirits, who has been used
to some large field or plain where he can fling up his head and toss up
his tail and gallop away at full speed, then round and back again with
a snort to his companions--I say it is hard never to have a bit more
liberty to do as you like. Sometimes, when I have had less exercise than
usual, I have felt so full of life and spring that when John has taken
me out to exercise I really could not keep quiet; do what I would, it
seemed as if I must jump, or dance, or prance, and many a good shake I
know I must have given him, especially at the first; but he was always
good and patient.

"Steady, steady, my boy," he would say; "wait a bit, and we will have a
good swing, and soon get the tickle out of your feet." Then as soon as
we were out of the village, he would give me a few miles at a spanking
trot, and then bring me back as fresh as before, only clear of the
fidgets, as he called them. Spirited horses, when not enough exercised,
are often called skittish, when it is only play; and some grooms will
punish them, but our John did not; he knew it was only high spirits.
Still, he had his own ways of making me understand by the tone of
his voice or the touch of the rein. If he was very serious an