A LETTER FROM A HORSE

To the Lady of the House:

Please order your supplies for the day early in the morning and all in one order. One daily trip to your door is enough. Two trips will wear me out twice as fast.

Telephoning in an extra order doubles the work for the sales clerk and bookkeeper as well as for the driver and horse. This adds to the cost of all you buy.

Hurry up orders make whippings for me.

Please think of those who serve you, both people and horses.
Your obedient servant,
The Delivery Horse.

P. S. Some boys play with a whip over my back, not meaning to hurt me, but I cannot see the fun. It makes me nervous, and I get so tired by night from being worried that I tremble all over. I know boys do not think about that part.
T. D. Horse.

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A PLEA FOR THE HORSE

Every horse will work longer and better if given three ample meals daily; plenty of clean, fresh water; proper shoes, sharpened in slippery weather; a blanket in cold weather; a stall six feet by nine feet or room enough to lie down; a fly net in summer and two weeks’ vacation each year. Do not use the cruel, tight check rein¹, or closely fitting blinders which cause blindness.
SPARE THE WHIP
QUESTIONS
I.

Wouldn’t you have much more work to do if there were no horses?

Have you ever been very tired?

Have you ever been very thirsty?

Could you ask for a drink of water?

Can a horse ask?

Don’t you suppose animals suffer terribly with thirst?

What would a horse say if he could talk?

Can you drive?

Did you ever stop to think that it is because a horse’s mouth is so tender that the great strong animal does what the driver wishes?

What do you think about jerking the reins²?

[90]

Should we have as nice and comfortable houses or food or clothing if we had no horses?
II.

Is the horse a laborer³?

Has he a right to wages? What should they be?

How many meals a day should a horse have?

Can you imagine how it would seem if you were very, very hungry to be taken into a place where tables were spread with tempting⁴ food, and be driven past them without a bite?

How do hungry horses feel when they see and smell apples and grass?

Can you run as fast when you carry a heavy load as you can with a light load?

Can a horse?

Did you ever burn your mouth?

Did you know that the steel bit, if put very cold in the horse’s mouth, will burn off the skin of the tongue and make the mouth sore—and perhaps prevent the horse from eating?

Could the bit be easily warmed by dipping it into hot water, or breathing on it to take out the frost?

Did you ever stop to think that every creature that is alive can suffer?
III.

Did you ever see a driver stop on a cold day and go into a restaurant for a bowl of warm soup or a cup of coffee?

Did he put a blanket on the horse?

Did you ever see a horse taken into a stable and given a warm meal on a cold day?

[91]

Did you ever see non-skid chain-shoes for horses?

Do you know that burlap tied on the horses’ hoofs⁵ answers the same purpose, and costs only a little time and forethought?

The driver can best help this horse to get up by spreading a blanket or carpet over the icy roadway under his feet.

1 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

2 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

3 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

4 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

5 hoofs   

n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The stamp of the horse's hoofs on the wooden floor was loud. 马蹄踏在木头地板上的声音很响。 来自辞典例句
• The noise of hoofs called him back to the other window. 马蹄声把他又唤回那扇窗子口。 来自辞典例句