Mr. Barry lived in Bath. He was a businessman. His doctor told him to ride a horse for his health. He hired a man named Filcher to be my groom (a person who cleans and feeds horses).
Mr. Barry knew nothing about horses. But he was a kind man. He ordered the best hay and lots of oats for me. For a few days, everything was good. Filcher was a good worker and cleaned the stable well.
But soon, I felt very weak. I did not have much energy. Filcher was giving me less food. He gave me bran (the outside part of wheat) instead of oats. I was hungry and tired. This went on for two months.
One day, Mr. Barry rode me to see a friend. His friend was a farmer. The farmer looked at me carefully. He told Mr. Barry that I looked very thin and weak. He said I was not getting my oats.
Mr. Barry was surprised. He told the farmer that he bought plenty of food. The farmer said someone was stealing the corn. He told Mr. Barry to look at the stable more often. The farmer gave me a big meal of oats. I was very happy.
The truth was that Filcher was a thief. Every morning, his young son came to the stable with a basket. Filcher filled a bag with my oats and gave it to the boy. The boy took the oats home to feed their rabbits.
A few days later, a policeman came to the stable. He caught the boy with the bag of oats. Then the police caught Filcher. Filcher went to prison for two months.