“Not old enough to work!” said Rollo, “Why, he is pretty big. He is almost as big as the horse. I should think he could draw you alone in the wagon.”
“Perhaps he is strong enough for that; but Elky has never learned to work yet.”
[pg 11]“Never learned!” said Rollo, in great surprise. “Do horses have to learn to work? Why, they have nothing to do but to pull.”
“Why, suppose,” said his father, “that he should dart off at once as soon as he is harnessed, and pull with all his strength, and furiously.”
“O, he must not do so: he must pull gently and slowly.”
“Well, suppose he pulls gently a minute, and then stops and looks round, and then I tell him to go on, and he pulls a minute again, and then stops and looks round.”
“O no,” said Rollo, laughing, “he must not do so; he must keep pulling steadily all the time.”
“Yes, so you see he has something more to do than merely to pull; he must pull right, and he must be taught to do this. Besides, he must learn to obey all my various commands. Why, a horse needs to be taught to work as much as a boy.”
“Why, father, I can work; and I have never been taught.”
“O no,” said his father, smiling, “you cannot work.”