My First Horse.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 958, 24 December 1881, Page 1 (Supplement)

My First Horse.

... "In truth ho was a noble itieil'-lttuppai ■ |M f AH - as • a tn ' n f> *° b e remembered. [sG'yS J Howl.longed'to : have.ahorse'to O|3 ride on! I yearned to mount tho [»vM™|;vfiery Pegasus—scour, across;the plains- (streets)—and' excite-the envy of my friends with'a feverish-yearning; to be only appeased by the tangible reality. Qtir butcher-boy had'often excited'my admiratibh %he cameround-'corners at-a break-neck pace, reckless of all things existing,,.anil pulled up suddenly to a'dead-stop, without any warning of the liklihood of such a- thing taking place-cry "Butcher-r-r" (through his noseJi- and startle all the dogs round about into a fiendish yelping 'that had: ; no end, Iliad often watched the clerks and soft-goods assistants, oiv-a Sunday afternoon, pranking nobly along On a "livery,"-and it ■started the yearning within me tQ'become a horseman. With the idea strong upon me,' I went towards ■ a : livery stable where the "nobleanimal" was let out;—" All horses on hire-to -be l paid'for before leaving the yard." I : aaiintered in, criticised .the horses ranged iir their stalls On either side, and-was accosted by a small man with a pinehed-upi dry expression of countenance, and a humor' oils twinkle in-his little eyes that reminded mc vaguely of-some undefinable transaction connected with horses. Moreover;' he,had on no coat -or waistcoat, and incesssantly chewed a straw. " Now, just cast your eye on that 'un, sir—she's a beauty, ain't she ? Well ribbed up better hocks and pasterns you never seen," &o. I said I did not Want a horse with all those advantages attached,but an exceedingly docile animal, not quite so fresh, alias friskey, but one who had done a

little work in the morning—if ho had such a one—for ■ a horrible doubt began to arise with me that it might not be so easy as it looked. I got one at last—he was a tail, 1 bony, antediluvian looking bit of anatomy, withasad, ilhised expression of countenance, and a dreamy, classical, far-off look about tho eyes that left one tinder the impression that he had waded deep into the ," Valley of Gloomy Thought," and got lost there beyond recovery. His head would droop slowly down lower -lower -then he would raise it up with a kind of convulsive jerk, aud let it drop again. The small man remarked his abundance of bone; I thought he ought' to add-"hide," and leave out all the other ingredients which, combined, would compose a living and snorting "steed," and that would be all of him. I serambletl on to the top of him, and fixed my feet safely in the stirrups; then I wished I was off him; I felt hot and uncomfortable, and nervous; and ashamed-it was like sitting on a spade, only not half so easy. I gathered up the reins, and said "get up" two or three times, but he didn't. I kicked him with my heels, and flogged him for about a quarter of ah hour, when he lifted his head up, with his spasmodio jerk, let it drop again, put out his' foreleg, then another one, and stopped altogether. I was about to get down, when some one came behind, and cut him over the flank -then lie bounded up, what must have been;

Bixty feet into tho.air, heaved his back.up and down, and rattled his hoofs along the, 1 road in a way that, was. bewildering- in the extscme. I did not understand it-there, must bo, something the, matter: with, him, I was sure; I was jerked about all over., him. I pulled at his mouth,, and cried•; "Whoa," as loud as I could. I rattled all; my teeth loose, and bit my tongue through two or three hundredtrmes j my legs dangled down, and Bobbed about his^id.cfi,like j;wo.| German sausages hanging, ovor a liner-and 1,, finally let go the reins, held on to the.saddle, like grim death, and.lot him, like Mrs. Heman? "Brook" or Tennyson's, or.somebody; else's, go on for. ever-r-ever, At, length he stopped, and, to my. great',relief began_tp, walk. Presently his head began to dip again, and then he stopped and came to anchor I; got a cabman to turn him in the direction of tho stable,, and ; set him going, once ; ,morp.-C y Then began,. alLovcr again, the jerking aud^y

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heaving, to which, in despair,lresigned my- •■ \v'--> self, until at last lie stopped at the stable "* and hung down his head, I got down. Oh! the calm that filled my soul when I knew it: was all over i and I was safe passeth all attempts at description, I felt stiff, and sore, and weary, and frightened, and bewildered . and trembling all over. I went home. This, is pleasure—fun. Well, it may be so—it very likely is-but I have a recollection of being unable foivsome time afterwards to sit down with, that degree of dignity and com- 1 , fort which is: a necessary .attribute of a man ■•' of standing in society, ■ .