"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. At night they often forgot to rub him down, and sometimes, after a long, hard day's work, he went without his supper."
"That was mean!" Robert's voice quivered with indignation.
"One day last March," went on Mr. Spencer, "I saw the poor fellow standing in the cold wind and rain, with no blanket on. His head was down and he was shivering with cold. I could hardly believe that it was the same horse I had known a few years ago. To make a long story short, I bought him for a small sum and took him to a stable near by. There I saw him well rubbed down and fed with warm bran-mash. After a few days I brought him out here. He is very happy and comfortable, but it will take him all summer to get well. He can do only light work for the rest of his life."
"Does he need any food but hay and grass?" Robert asked, as he held out a handful of sweet clover to Whitey.