"
"Does a bit need to be warmed?" asked Robert.
"Oh, no!" said Mr. Spencer. "If it is held in cold water a few minutes
the frost will come out of it, and there will be no danger of making the
horse's mouth sore. The owner of this horse would never have taken the
trouble to do that. His one thought was to be in the fashion. So he had
poor Whitey's coat clipped, bought a curb-bit for him, and cut off his
long tail."
"What a cruel man!" said Robert warmly.
"There are many others like him," said Mr. Spencer. "They do not see how
helpless a horse is when his head is drawn back with an over-check or
hurt by a curb-bit and when he has no chance to drive away the flies
that torment him. To cut off a horse's tail not only hurts him very much
at the time, but makes him miserable afterwards."
"If I were a horse and were treated like that, I'd run away," said
Robert.
"That is just what old Whitey did," said Mr. Spencer. "He ran away. Then
his owner sold him to a grocer."
"Our grocer is very good to his horses," said Robert. "I hope this one
was, too."
"No," said Mr. Spencer. "Poor Whitey grew more and more miserable. The
boys who drove the wagon whipped him and teased him. They cared little
whether or not he had a good dinner, and water to drink, and time to
rest at noon.
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