The longer I lived at Birtwick, the happier I felt. Our master and mistress were kind to everyone and everything, people and animals alike, and any creature that was badly treated had a friend in them. When the mistress met a horse with a heavy load and its head pulled up by a bearing rein, she sometimes stopped the carriage and told the driver in her sweet, serious voice how foolish and cruel it was.
The master could speak plainly too. One morning, as he was riding me home, a strong man came towards us in a small carriage pulled by a pretty little pony. At the park gates the pony turned towards them. Without a word, the man pulled its head round so hard that it nearly fell, and began to whip it. I knew what pain that soft mouth was feeling. The master gave me the word, and in a second we were beside him.
“Sawyer,” he said in a stern voice, “is that pony made of flesh and blood?”
“Flesh and blood and temper,” said the man. He was a builder who often came to the park. “He should have gone straight on!”
“You have often driven him to my house,” said the master. “How could he know you were not going there again? Mr Sawyer, I have never seen a pony treated more cruelly. When you lose your temper like this, you hurt yourself as much as your horse. Remember, we shall all be judged by what we do, to people and to animals.”
Another day we met his friend Captain Langley, who was driving a fine pair of grey horses.
“What do you think of my new horses?” he asked.
“They are very handsome,” said the master, “but I see you still use the bearing rein.”
“I like to see my horses hold their heads up.”
“So do I,” said the master, “but I don’t like to see them held up. You are a soldier, Langley. You like your men to look well on parade. But how well would they fight if their heads were all tied to a board? It is the same with horses. The rein makes them tired and cross, and they can’t put their weight into their work. And if a horse makes a false step, he has much less chance of saving himself when his head is tied back.”
“That was a hard hit about the soldiers,” said the captain. “Well, I’ll think about it.” And so they parted.