Among the Farmyard PeoplePierson, Clara Dillingham
History
Among the Farmyard People
Pierson, Clara Dillingham
Animals -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Farm life -- Juvenile fiction; Natural history -- Juvenile fiction
The farmer was very kind, but the Bay Colt did not want the bit in his
mouth, so he acted as ugly as he knew how, and kicked, and snapped with
his jaws open, and tried to run. The farmer did not grow angry or cross,
yet whenever the Bay Colt showed his temper, the bit would press down
his tongue and stretch the corners of his mouth until he had to stop.
Once in a while the farmer would try to pat him and show him that it was
all right, but the Bay Colt would not have this, and he was a very cross
and sweaty two-year-old when he was taken back to his stall.
He missed the Gray Colt from her usual place, but soon she came in with
one of the farmer's men. She had been driven for the first time also.
"Hallo!" said he. "Have you had a bit in your mouth too? Wasn't it
dreadful? I am so angry that my hoofs fairly tingle to hit that farmer."
"It was hard," said the Gray Colt, "but the man who drove me was very
kind and let me rest often. He patted me, too, and that helped me to be
brave. My mother says we won't mind the bit at all after we are used to
it."
"Well," said the Bay Colt, "I'm never going to be used to it. I won't
stand it, and that's all there is about it." He stamped his hoofs and
looked very important. Two-year-olds often look quite as important as
ten-year-olds, and they feel much more so. The Bay Colt was rather proud
of his feet, and thought it much nicer to have solid hoofs than to have
them split, like those of the Cows, the Hogs, and the Sheep.
[Illustration: HAD A SORE MOUTH FROM JERKING ON THE LINES.]
When he said that he would not stand it to be driven, a queer little
sound ran through the stalls. It was like the wind passing over a
wheatfield, and was caused by the older Horses taking a long breath and
whispering to themselves. The Bay Colt's mother was saying, "Poor child!
What hard work he does make of life!"
The next day both Colts were driven again, and the next day, and the
next, and the next. By this time the Gray Colt was quite used to it. She
said she rather enjoyed knowing what the man was thinking, and that she
could tell his thoughts by the feeling of the lines, much as she used to
understand her mother by rubbing noses when she was a tiny Colt. Her
cousin had a sore mouth from jerking on the lines, and he could not
enjoy eating at all. That made it even harder for him, because he got
very hungry, and it is not so easy to be sensible when one is hungry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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