resolved to be tractable, i yielded myself to the man in velveteen, and he put some leather straps over my head, and a piece of iron in my mouth, and then he got upon my back. his weight was very disagreeable to me, and seemed to destroy in a moment the sense of freedom which i had hitherto enjoyed. my first impulse was to kick out and try to throw him, but the warning i had received from my mother, with the addition of the iron in my mouth, checked me. obeying the rider’s touch, i made the best of his weight, and ran to and fro in the field, turning when he pulled the reins, which he did unnecessarily hard; and obeying even the pressure of his knees—in fact, acting in accordance with his wishes to the best of my ability.
in about half an hour mr. bayne came into the field, and the man in velveteen guided me up to him.
‘this will be a capital nag for a lady,’ he said; ‘a young lady learning to ride will be very glad of him.’
‘i have sold him to mr. crawshay,’ replied mr. bayne, ‘and they will use him both to ride and drive.’
‘just the very hanimal,’ said the man, and then he got off my back and went to rip, who all this time had remained fretting and fuming with his head tied to a gate. mr. bayne took charge of me, and the man in velveteen released rip.
‘woa there,’ he cried, as my friend gave a violent plunge; 8‘steady there—will you? here’s a horse of another colour. quiet there!’
but rip would not be quiet, and i was sorry for it, as i knew what would but to surely follow.
i was spared the scene, however, for mr. bayne, loosening the halter round my neck, led me back to the stable; but as i left the field i heard the man in velveteen shouting in an angry tone, and then i was certain that rip had foolishly shown resistance. by the stable door we came upon giles the ploughman, who inquired with an air of interest how i had behaved.
‘like a good-tempered little fellow,’ replied mr. bayne, patting me, and a thrill of satisfaction ran through my body. i felt that i had done my duty.
they left me in the stall, and i had nearly an hour to think over the process of breaking in. i cannot say that i liked it; the weight of a man upon my back seemed to take away my liberty, as i said before; and yet it was not entirely inharmonious to my nature—it was more novel than disagreeable.
‘man is certainly created our master,’ i thought; ‘he was quite at ease upon my back, and sat as if it were perfectly natural to him, and that is the reason, no doubt, why my back is so long and broad. man was certainly not created to carry us. then he has hands to drive, and we have not. yes, man is our master, and my mother is right—it is our duty to submit.’
thus i reasoned until the hour was passed and rip was brought home. giles and the man in velveteen led him in and put him into the next stall to mine. the man in velveteen looked very hot, but he was not angry—in fact he had rather a pleased look upon his face.
‘i don’t care to have ’em all easy like this chap,’ he said, addressing giles and pointing at me; ‘i like to have ’em try a trick or two on me, and then i can show who is master. the rougher they are the more i can come out—and it was by breaking in the rough ‘uns that i made my name.’
‘rip is full of play,’ said giles.
‘is he?’ replied the other sarcastically. ‘you may call it play, but i don’t; when a horse kicks out at all sides of the compass, and bites at you like a fury, i calls it vice, and that’s the thing i know how to cure. i gives them plenty of physic for it—whip and spur without stint, and they soon gives in.’
he then left the stable in company with giles, and i, knowing that rip had gone through a fierce fight, waited for him to speak of it. but he was silent, and after the lapse of five minutes i peeped over the partition to get a look at my friend. poor rip! never shall i forget the change which had come over him. his handsome head was no longer erect, but hung low in a dejected manner; the fire had left his brilliant eye, and his fine velvet-like mouth was bleeding; it was plain the fight had gone against him.
‘why did you resist?’ i asked in a sympathising tone.
‘it is cruel work,’ he replied, with a big sob which seemed to shake his frame. ‘it is not fair—he had a whip and spurs, and the bit cut my mouth like a knife. look at my sides.’
i looked, and saw that the satin coat was scored and scratched by the spurs, and broad weals of flesh stood up where the whip had been. i was so sorry for my friend that i could say nothing, but only shed a few quiet tears.
‘if he had been kind,’ sobbed rip, ‘i would have obeyed him; but he began by saying that he knew i should give him a deal of trouble, and that he would stand none of my nonsense. how could he expect a horse of spirit to endure such language?’
‘perhaps you showed that you meant resistance,’ i said gently.
‘i may have done so a little,’ replied rip; ‘but what could be more natural? and when i gave in—which i was obliged to do, for what can we do against the bit, and whip, and spur?—when i gave in he was not easy, but continued to beat me until liquid fire seemed to run through every vein of my body: it was cruel—cruel.’
i did my best to console rip, and after a time he became calmer. we were left to ourselves during the evening, and i took the opportunity to reason with him, and before we lay down to rest i had the satisfaction of hearing that it was his intention to abandon all resistance in the future.
on the morrow we were taken in hand again, and i was 12put into the shafts of a cart and driven to and fro. the rattle of the wheels was very disagreeable at first, but i resolved not to show any signs of fear lest my movements should be taken for resistance, and eventually i became accustomed to it, and received a second kind acknowledgment from my master in the form of a patting and a piece of sugar.
rip underwent a second course of the saddle, and wisely gave in to the hand of his master; but the resistance of the day before had gone against him, and nobody seemed to place entire faith in his docility. i heard the man in the velveteen tell mr. bayne that rip was a tricky youngster, and would require a tight hand to be kept over him for a year or two; so much for first impressions!
about a week after this i left the farm. my going was very sudden, and i had neither time nor opportunity to take leave of any of those i loved. a man came for me, and i learned that he was mr. crawshay’s groom. he put a saddle upon my back, and got into it with the easy confidence of a man who could trust the animal he was riding. my mother was away in a team which giles was driving to some distant town, and rip was in the hands of his trainer; so without a single word of adieu i turned my back upon the farm and left it behind me—for ever.
