and hills in the country roads are constantly to be met with both longer and steeper than those to be found in London, although not always so slippery. In these cases their horses suffer, at least, as much deterioration as any of those hitherto mentioned. They load the carts heavily, as they try to work near, and so make their horses ‘earn their living,’ as they really should do in their case, which is at present a hard one; but they should consider thoughtfully whether it is profitable to make a horse work hard when going down hill, and so injuring him really more than in drawing a load up hill.
The foregoing remarks have been made to lead up to such cases, although it is open to any other parties to profit by them if they choose. It has been said that ‘the work which kills one horse will bring in money enough to buy another;’ but this is a great fallacy—in fact, an immense mistake, as it is generally interpreted. Besides, it is evident that no horse can possibly pull over a certain weight up a certain ascent; yet often a single shaft horse is expected, and obliged, to do his best to keep back, without mechanical help, the same weight which has required two, or often three, horses to drag it up the same incline in a two-wheeled cart. Is this rational, or even economical, when well considered? There is another saying, common among horsemen, that ‘one horse can wear out four pairs of legs;’ but it is also rational to believe that Nature gave the horse the same requisite number of legs
