s were running hard, and she loved hunting
dearly in her heart. As a friend remarked at the time, 'The little mare
seems very fond of you, or there might have been a bother'! Now this
affection was but the result of petting, sugar, kind and encouraging
words, particularly at her fences, and a rigid abstinence from abuse of
the bridle and the spur."

Many animal lovers, especially those who have had no personal experience
in studying the peculiarities of our dumb servants, consider that all
horses behave well if kindly treated. This belief has a certain
foundation in fact, in the case of amiable animals which appreciate good
usage. There are, however, many horses, especially among the half-bred
hackney class of riding animal, possessed of bitter obstinacy which no
amount of kindness on our part can subdue. Some of these animals allow
us to get on their backs and carry us quietly, so long as we permit them
to proceed at their desired pace; but as soon as we attempt to assert
ourselves in this matter, they display their sullen tempers in various
ways, either by plunging, pulling, or setting up other defences against
our authority. If we insist on our orders being obeyed, they show fight,
or more usually a sullen nagging resistance that continues the whole
time we remain on their backs, and they carry out the same programme
every time we ride them. With such nasty tempered brutes, breaking is of
no avail, for they are quiet as long as we allow them to set the pace
and carry us as they like. A breaker who is a good horseman and
possessed of extreme tact and patience, which of course is necessary,
may continue the fight longer than an ordinary rider cares to do, but he
can produce no permanent result, for he is unable to give the animal a
new heart. Therefore, when we consider the important question of manners
in a horse, we should first learn all we can about the disposition and
temper of the animal both in and out of the stable. Given a sound
foundation to work upon, that is to say, a placid generous tempered
horse, we may confidently set to work in polishing up his manners as may
be required, but with the sullen brutes I have described, it is a
useless task. We find much the same thing in some human beings. George
Moore, in his novel, _Esther Waters_, graphically depicts the sullen
obstinacy of a low class of person who will "neither lead nor drive." I
think that this dogged obstinacy of temper is rarely met with among
tho