A
fast horse on a farm is ruination to the boys, for it starts them racing
and betting. Father says he is going to offer a prize for the fastest
walker that can be bred in New Hampshire. That Dutchman of ours, heavy
as he is, is a fair walker, and Cleve and Pacer can each walk four and a
half miles an hour."
"Why do you lay such stress on their walking fast?" asked Miss Laura.
"Because so much of the farm work must be done at a walk. Ploughing,
teaming, and drawing produce to market, and going up and down hills.
Even for the cities it is good to have fast walkers. Trotting on city
pavements is very hard on the dray horses. If they are allowed to go at
a quick walk, their legs will keep strong much longer. It is shameful
the way horses are used up in big cities. Our pavements are so bad that
cab horses are used up in three years. In many ways we are a great deal
better off in this new country than the people in Europe; but we are not
in respect of cab horses, for in London and Paris they last for five
years. I have seen horses drop down dead in New York just from hard
usage. Poor brutes, there is a better time coming for them though.
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