MY EXPERIENCE AS A JOB HORSE

Chapter-12

Next day, I was in one of the compartments of the train that I used to fear some time before. I didn’t feel much secured because it kept shaking, puffing and whistling. It was noisy. But after a long journey, I reached my destination. I was taken to a stable. The owner used to send his horses harnessed, on rent. It was wearisome to stay in the stable, tethered in the manger. I felt quite uneasy there.
There were many horses in the stable. Sometimes my new master himself drove them. But most of the time, we were harnessed and sent out on rent.
None of the drivers there could qualify the kind nature like John’s or Mr. York’s. I called them ‘loose rein drivers’ because they left the reins loose while they were busy gossiping or looking at sights. Due to this, the carriage used to go astray but it did not matter to them. One day, I went out in the carriage with one such slowly and careless driver. He was too busy talking to his passengers to notice that the road had just been mended and was still full of stones. A stone wedged itself in one of my forefeet. Any good driver would have instantly realized that something was wrong with my pace and would here picked out the stone. But the driver went on laughing and talking, while the stone cut deeper into my flesh with every step. He drove me for a good half-mile till I was so lame with the pain that even he noticed. Another group I categorized was ‘tight rein drivers’ who used to concentrate on the rein more than it was required.
Another category was ‘steam engine drivers’ who couldn’t bear a slow pace. They wanted to start with full speed and bring the carriage to a sudden halt. If the pace decreased even minorly, they would start shouting at me.
But I also came across nice men who were kind at heart. They drove the carriage with care. Mr. Barry, one of them, was so fond of me that he now and then insisted on my master to sell me to him.
Mr. Barry was single and didn’t have his own house. He lived in lodgings. He didn’t have a stable, so he hired a room for me and appointed a man, whose name was Filcher, to look after me.
Mr. Barry ordered Filcher to provide me with the best hay, plenty of oats, bran mash and crushed beans.
For a few days, I relied on the best food that Filcher gave me.
Filcher even kept the stable clean and tidy, and washed and rubbed me thoroughly every day. But soon, I noticed that the quality of food that I was given was deteriorating. The oats were lessened. Beans were mixed with bran instead of oats. Such poor food started affecting my health within 2-3 days only.
So one day, Mr. Barry rode me to one of his friends. Mr. Barry himself had boasted of me in front of his friend who was a farmer.
But as his friend saw me, he remarked, “What has happened to your horse, Barry? It seems you don’t feed him. He shouldn’t be so dull.”
“But I gave him the best food I can manage. It is not wise of you to say that my horse is not well off. I have heard others say that horses get dull in autumn,” replied my master.

But the farmer had a good eye for horses. He immediately remarked, “It is only August and you should better check it out if anybody is stealing your horse’s food.”
If I had expressed myself successfully, I would have approved of the words of the farmer. I had often seen Filcher’s son taking away a basket of oats from the sack that came for me.
I guessed my master had kept his eye on the thief of my food. One day, two policemen approached the stable and caught hold of Filcher’s son. Actually, Filcher had kept rabbits in his shed. So, he required oats to feed them. The culprit had no evidence against the statement of the policemen since he didn’t have any store at home to feed the rabbits.
The oat bin at Filcher’s place was empty. Thus Filcher and his son were put behind bars.
Based on the evidences, the boy was left out while Filcher being guilty was sentenced to an imprisonment for two months.
My new groom was Alfred Smirk. He seemed to be more interested in his looks than in his work. I saw him brushing his hair and whiskers and settling his necktie almost twenty times a day. These were the only things he didn’t do to me or to my stable. He never brushed me or cleaned my shoes or sweep the loose box.
After some days, the conditions were so bad that the moist hay was stinking and it had severely affected my feet. He wasn’t a man who would keep his word because he listened carefully to my master’s orders replying ‘Yes Sir! Yes Sir!’ in return. But he did not carry out any of the orders due to laziness.
So, one day, my master entered the stable, only to smell the bad air of the stable. On enquiry, Mr. Smirk gave an excuse that cold water used for washing the stable could be harmful to my health. So, he said that it was not the water that was stinking. It was the drain near by that smelt badly.
Mr. Smirk used to put away the extra hay and hid the rest of the dirty stuff under the corners. So, my master never noticed it. Instead, he asked Smirk to call a bricklayer and get the drain covered.
The bricklayer arrived. Finding nothing wrong, he asked for five shillings and then left. Next day when the master led me out, I was finding it quite difficult to stand on my foot.
Mr. Barry asked Smith to look after me. Like a recorded radio, he spoke, “Yes Sir! Yes Sir! I have seen it and will look to it.”
But now, Smirk had stopped exercising me. With all food and rest I got heavy and dull. He didn’t know that he should serve me bran mash and corn meal. Instead of serving me corn and bran to remove my fever, he used to serve me medicines which were very disgusting for my throat.
My feet were sore. One day while I was trotting with my master, I broke down. I was taken to the blacksmith who checked the worse conditions of my feet.
He said to my master, “Check your stable. The horse has got thrush. Your stable must be dirty and wet because there is no other reason a horse can get thrush. I fear your groom isn’t loyal to you.” He gave some ointment to smear my feet with.
When Mr. Barry reached home, he was so upset at my condition that he finally gave up his mind to keep me. He had been deceived by two grooms.
When I was back to health, I was sold again with the decision that whenever Mr. Barry required me, he would get me on rent.

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