Minnie's Pet Horse Read online

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  Transcriber's Note

  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. A list of correctionsis found at the end of the text. Oe ligatures have been expanded.

  MINNIE AND HER PONY.]

  MINNIE and her PETS. BY MRS MADELINE LESLIE. MINNIE'S PET PONY.]

  MINNIE'S PET HORSE.

  BY

  MRS. MADELINE LESLIE, AUTHOR OF "THE LESLIE STORIES," "TIM, THE SCISSORS-GRINDER," ETC.

  ILLUSTRATED.

  BOSTON: LEE AND SHEPARD, SUCCESSORS TO PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO. 1864.

  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by

  A. R. BAKER,

  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District ofMassachusetts.

  ELECTROTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.

  TO MY YOUNG FRIEND,

  HENRY FOWLE DURANT, JR.

  =These Little Volumes=

  ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED

  BY THE AUTHOR,

  IN THE EARNEST HOPE THAT THEY MAY INCREASE IN HIM THAT LOVE OF NATURE AND OF RURAL LIFE WHICH HAS EVER EXERTED SO SALUTARY AN INFLUENCE IN THE FORMATION OF THE CHARACTERS OF THE WISE AND GOOD.

  MINNIE AND HER PETS.

  Minnie's Pet Parrot. Minnie's Pet Cat. Minnie's Pet Dog. Minnie's Pet Horse. Minnie's Pet Lamb. Minnie's Pet Monkey.

  MINNIE'S PET HORSE.

  CHAPTER I.

  THE HORSE AND THE DOG.

  In the other books of this little series, I have told you about Minnie'spet parrot, her pet cat, and her pet dog. In this one, I shall give youan account of her pet pony, and also tell you anecdotes of otherhorses.

  Star was the name she gave her Shetland pony, I suppose because he had awhite star on his forehead, which showed very distinctly from thecontrast with his dark bay hair.

  He was about three feet high, with a short neck and a long black tail.He was very affectionate and gentle, loving his little mistress, andneighing pleasantly whenever he heard her voice.

  The little girl seldom went out to the stable without asking the cookfor a piece of bread for Star. Sometimes she did not give it to him atonce, but hid it under her apron. The pony soon learned this trick, and,if the bread was not forthcoming, lifted the apron with his teeth,whining like a child, until she put it in his mouth.

  During the summer months, Star was kept in the pasture, where the grasswas very green. When he was thirsty, there was a clear, running brook atthe end of the pasture, where he could go and drink. If the weather wasvery hot, he liked to go and stand in the water and cool himself.

  Star had a companion to stay with him in the pasture, and help him eatthe young, sweet clover. This was Nannie, the lamb, who never, if shecould help it, was out of his sight for a moment. Wherever Star went,Nannie tried to go too; or, if she could not, she bleated continually,refusing to eat until his return.

  Mr. Lee's place contained near a hundred acres. There was a farm houseabout two hundred rods from the mansion, and a nicely gravelled roadleading past the lawn through the garden, connecting them.

  Here, almost every pleasant morning, Minnie could be seen trotting herlittle pony back and forth, and Nannie running along by his side. Aftera few months, Star became so well accustomed to his young mistress, thathe would walk by himself from the stable door, when the groom hadbuckled on the saddle, to the bottom of the stone steps where she usedto mount. Her father soon taught her to put her foot in the stirrup, andmount by herself; and Star would stand quite still, turning his head tosee when she was ready; then, when she tightened the reins, and said inher pleasant tones, "Come, pony!" away he would go down the avenue,trotting or cantering, just as suited her best.

  As Minnie grew older, her mother sometimes trusted her to go to thevillage store of an errand; or, if the servants were busy, and there wasa letter to be posted, there was nothing easier than for Minnie to runto the gate leading into the pasture, and call out, "Star! Star!!" Thenhe would come up to the house, following her like a dog, and wait to besaddled.

  In the winter the pony occupied a stall in the neat, warm stable; andthere, curled down by his side, Nannie lay too, doing her best to keepher favorite warm with her long fleece.

  Minnie thought Star a very knowing horse, and she loved to tell herfather and mother all the cunning things he did, and how glad he alwayswas to see her, when she went to visit him.

  Sometimes her father told her stories of other ponies. I suppose youwould like to hear some, and I will tell them to you.

  "The first was an account of a horse owned by Dr. Smith, in Ireland. Hewas a beautiful hackney, and although extremely spirited, was at thesame time wonderfully docile.

  "The doctor had also a fine Newfoundland dog, named Caesar. These animalswere mutually attached, and seemed perfectly acquainted with eachother's actions. The dog was always kept in the stable at night, anduniversally lay beside the horse.

  "When Dr. Smith practised in Dublin, he visited his patients onhorseback, and had no other servant to take care of his horse while intheir houses but Caesar, into whose mouth he put the reins. The hackneystood very quietly, even in that crowded city, beside his friend Caesar.When it happened that the doctor had a patient not far distant from theplace where he paid his last visit, he did not think it worth while toremount, but called to his horse and Caesar to follow him. They bothreadily obeyed, and remained quietly opposite the door where he entereduntil he came out again.

  "While he remained in Queen's county, he had many opportunities ofwitnessing the friendship and sagacity of these intelligent animals. Thehorse seemed to be as implicitly obedient to his friend Caesar, as hecould possibly be to his groom.

  "The doctor would go to the stable, accompanied by his dog, put thebridle on his horse, and giving the reins to Caesar, bid him take thehorse to the water. They both understood what was to be done, when offtrotted Caesar, followed by the hackney, which frisked, capered, andplayed with the dog all the way to the rivulet, about three hundredyards distant from the stable. He followed at a great distance, alwayskeeping so far in the rear as to observe their manoeuvres. Theyinvariably went to the stream, and after the horse had quenched histhirst, both returned in the same playful manner as they had gone out.

  "Sometimes the doctor desired Caesar to make the horse leap the stream,which was about six feet broad. The dog, by a kind of bark, and leapingup toward the horse's head, intimated to him what he wanted, which wasquickly understood, when he cantered off, and took the leap in a neatand regular style. On one occasion, Caesar lost hold of the reins, and assoon as the horse cleared the leap, he immediately trotted up to hiscanine friend, who took hold of the bridle, and led him back through thewater quietly."

  "They loved each other," cried Minnie, "just like Star and Nannie."

  "Such attachments are not uncommon," rejoined Mr. Lee.

  "Many horses will not stay a moment in the stable by themselves, withoutdiscovering a great deal of impatience.

  "Sometimes they try to break the manger with their fore feet. On oneoccasion a pony leaped out of a stable door through which manure wasthrown, after company which was in the barn yard. A cow, a goat, or apet lamb, will perfectly satisfy them."

  "A gentleman in Bristol had a greyhound which slept in the stable alongwi
th a fine hunter about five years of age. They soon became attached,and regarded each other with the most tender affection. Indeed, thehorse was restless and unhappy when the dog was out of sight.

  "The gentleman used frequently to call at the stable for the greyhoundto accompany him in his walks. On such occasions the horse would lookover his shoulder at the dog with much anxiety, and neigh in a mannerwhich plainly said, 'Let me also accompany you.'

  "When the dog returned to the stable, he was always welcomed with a loudneigh, and ran up to the horse, licking his nose. In return, the horsewould scratch the dog's back with his teeth.

  "One day, when the groom was out with the horse and greyhound forexercise, a large dog attacked the latter, and quickly bore him to theground. In spite of all the efforts of the groom, the horse threw backhis ears, rushed at the strange dog, seized him by the back with histeeth, and shook him till a large piece of the skin gave way. Theoffender no sooner got on his feet than he ran off as fast aspossible."