News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-07-22

| sunset, We placed nay ana oats peIors
him and left him,
The night passed quietly. When
went to the barn in the morning I saw
plainly that 1 had not fed the horse
enough. He had eaten everything had
given him, all the bedding, and about
one half Of the manger, which was made
of thick pine plank. Also shallow
| hole was gnawed out in the partition.
hastened to give him his breakfast, and
| gave him In my anxiety three times as
muGh as the usual quantity. l told my
sister. what / had discovered, an6 she
informed sthat we should have to have
our stable and eating box lined through
out with zinc, for it was not because
Jacob was hungry, it was because he was
a ''cribber" that he had done this thing.
She proved to be right. In less than
a week we hsd. the zinc put on, and
only barely in time then to save the
walls and foundation. I watched the
horse once; ] saw him take hold of the
wood and pull and grunt. He was lost
and bewildered when he could not dc
that. think it was Tor lack Of this
occupation that he got into trouble the
very first night after his dwelling was
repaired. We were awakened about
midnight by noise which at first we
could not Place; but of course as we
had bad no real freedom since Jacob had
come, we Immediately thought he was
the cause of it. We dressed hurriedly,
lighted the lantern and went out into
the summer night, which was full of
sweet odors and the hum of insects. A
whippoorwill was singing on the grind
stone under the cherry tree as we opened
the back door.
When we reached the stall our hearts
sank. There was the horse sprawled
out, with yards and yards of hind legs
on the floor behind him. He was not
struggling now, he was lying perfectly
still, his head on its side. Although we
had never seen a horse like this before,
we were sure that he was in a fit.
l ran to our nearest neighbor. Truth
lessly pounded and called until he came
to the window, when I informed him
that that gray horse was in fit, and
would he come right up3 He said he
would, and ran back, being perfectly
breathless and helpless when l reached
home.
Gertrude was sitting on a stool be-
hind the horse, looking at him. He lay
just the same.
"He is coming" I said, and sank
down on the meal chest
81 wouldn't run myself to DEATH" she
said. 81 don't know that it is required
of US that we give our lives for this
horse, though his family are in Europe.
I wish they were here with us, gazing
at their pet"
Il 41a H.
was not in fit. He was well enough;
he was only cast.
"Only castr cried my sister. ''What
more would you have How long does
a horse stay cast ~
''What you want is a good plank"
said our neighbor.
We found good plank. He laid one
end of it ever Jacobs hind legs, and
there was ample opportunity so to do;
then he directed Gertrude and me to
get on the plank and stand firmly, while
he went in the stall. We did not see
what he did, we were too much occupied |
him.
Immediately there was a movement, a |
Iurch, upheavaL The legs were |
drawn up, and we flew off across the |
barn. Gertrude's nose began to bleed,
but I only sustained general bruises,
which 1 counted as nothing. The horse
was standing.
81 guess hes all right now," says our
friend. ''Pll hitch him up so high he
can't glt his head down; ef he can't do
that he can't lie down. 1 guess he tried
to roll. Better put him in narrerer
stall. Too much room. Horses don't
try to roll in narrer stalls"
When daylight came we harnessed our
own horse and went for a carpenter to
make narrer stall. But we never used
it after it was made more than half a
dozen times. We turned Jacob out to
pasture and drove Kentucky, lame
though she was. The reason why we
did this was because to harness Jacob
was more than we were able to do often.
At our first attempt he got away from
us six times as we tried to put his bride
on. The instant we slipped off his
headstall he flung up his head even
higher than usual, mountain high 1t
seemed to US, and went out of doors If
he could. or back into his stall. One of
US led him out, the other stood on a
chair with the bride in complete readi-
ness to put on his head. No, his teeth
were shut hard, and his head was, so
far as we were concerned, miles off.
Only those who have tried it on a hot
summer day know how exasperated and
how helpless we were. But we did sue
ceed. Then we went into the house and
rested. When we came out the sight of
that beast attached to low phaeton
made us feel that our labor was thrown
away. He looked higher than ever; he
was monstrous. He would have looked
tall in a T-cart or an omnibus. When
we sat down and took the reins, they
came to me from such height, and de-
scended SO far before they reached the
little dash board, that l was ashamed.
/ think we had sufficient reason fer
putting Jacob to pasture. He tumbles
down walls and fences, but we are In
comparative peace. When Mrs. Fletcher
reached Liverpool she wrote that she
hoped we were enjoying that dear horse,
and she knew should be kind to him.
She felt perfectly easy about him. ~
Y. Tribune.