Page:Black Beauty (1877).djvu/141

Rh to get along, uncomplaining and obedient, though often sorely harassed and down-hearted.

This steam-engine style of driving wears us up faster than any other kind. I would far rather go twenty miles with a good considerate driver, than I would go ten with some of these; it would take less out of me.

Another thing—they scarcely ever put on the drag, however steep the down-hill may he, and thus bad accidents sometimes happen; or if they do put it on, they often forget to take it off at the bottom of the hill: and more than once, I have had to pull half way up the next hill, with one of the wheels lodged fast in the drag-shoe, before my driver chose to think about it; and that is a terrible strain on a horse.

Then these Cockneys, instead of starting at an easy pace as a gentleman would do, generally set off at full speed from the very stable yard; and when they want to stop, they first whip us, and then pull up so suddenly, that we are nearly thrown on our haunches, and our mouths jagged with the bit; they call that pulling up with a dash! and when they turn a corner, they do it as sharply as if there were no right side or wrong side of the road.

I well remember one spring evening I and Rory had been out for the day. (Rory was the horse that mostly went with me when a pair was ordered, and a good honest fellow he was.) We had our own driver, and as he was always considerate and gentle with us, we had a very pleasant day.