(3 lu tf» ^^Dfc"^- LIBRARY NEW YORK STATE VETERINARY COLLEGE ITHACA, NEW YORK Digitized by Microsoft® worntsii universiiy Library SF 301.B41 The story of Kate and Queen .. 3 1924 000 326 474 Digitized by Microsoft® This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation witli Cornell University Libraries, 2007. You may use and print this copy in limited quantity for your personal purposes, but may not distribute or provide access to it (or modified or partial versions of it) for revenue-generating or other commercial purposes. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® olesseB Digitized by Microsoft® The Story of Kate and Queen How "Kate" Became an Outlaw and How "Queen" Became the Family Driver : : As Told by Themselves O '^8S ii >- -< •c ^ «: O li ^ "^ ^ — ' I!y PROFESSOR JESSE BEERY Author of Beery's Mail Course in Horsemanship and nomevous other Works on Horses. Also Designer ol the Famous "Beery Bit" PLEASANT HILL, OHIO U. S. A. t Digitized by Microsoft® HM S. <> r COPYRIGHTED 1908 BY JESSE BEERY PLEASANT HILL. OHIO SF V ^r -^x ■ • . '! V V;' '■ V '; \ 1 r\\ \),} ■■.:\' Digitized by Microsoft® PREFACE These short stories are written, that you who love horses may spend an hour in their company and have them talk to you from their view of life. The author has spent his life with horses, studying their dispositions. He has had a wide experience training colts and the most vicious outlaws. Only an exceedingly small per cent of horses are naturally vicious; but most horses can be trained to be vicious. A horse can be trained to kick, as well as he can be trained not to kick; he can be trained to run away as well as not to run away. The author believes that horses do just what they are trained to do. This book is intended to present horse life from the viewpoint of the horse, with the hope that it will be found Digitized by Microsoft® interesting and suggestive to every reader. It is almost useless to say that "Kate" is a type of the thousands of horses that have been brought to the author for subjection. "Queen" is the type of hundreds of colts that have been trained by his own systematic methods. Therefore the incidents and methods mentioned are not vague imaginations, but facts. It is gratifying to the author that the public has appreciated this work and he desires to extend his thanks in this public way for the many kind words received from readers in many parts of the world. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® KATE' Digitized by Microsoft® OLD KATE'S CONFESSION Old Kate and Queen had finished their evening's allotment of oats, and were deliberately crunching a mouth- ful of sweet-scented hay at intervals. These two horses belonged to Mr. La- mar, a prosperous farmer, who lived on a beautiful well-kept farm, not far from the city. Mr. Lamar was a great admirer of good horses and always kept several about him. He loved, especial- ly, to have a good driving horse, but took no particular delight in training a horse, and, consequently, left that task to the farm hands for a rainy day job. Fourteen years had passed by since Kate had been brought to the farm., a beautiful two-year-old filly. Her beau- tiful form, sleek brown coat and pedi- gree that extended for several genera- 9 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF tions into the most aristocratic of horse families, had induced Mr. Lamar to pay more than an ordinary price for this promising colt. He was very proud of her when he got her home. Her good size, neat limbs and spirited bear- ing almost fulfilled his ideal of the per- fect horse he had longed to possess for family use. If we could look upon Kate as she stood in her stall the evening of our story, we could hardly believe it to be the horse that had once been the pride of such an excellent judge of horses as Mr. Lamar. Her coat was rough and neglected. There were many scars where some time had been many deep and jagged cuts. There was yet fire in the eye, but it was the fire of fierceness rather than ambition. The ears, usually, from habit, lay back close to the head, and every- one knew better than to approach with- 10 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN in reach of her teeth or heels. On account of being the principal of many runaways and the cause of many bruised spots upon the farm hands and others, her notoriety was great. There was scarcely a farmer in all that country that had not heard of some of the thrill- ing smashups and narrow escapes caused by Lamar's ungovernable mare. She occupies a large box stall in the rear of the barn, neglected and un- noticed, except by the curious. A door leads from her stall into a small lot. In nice weather this door is left open and this lot and box stall now consti- tute old Kate's world. By the side of old Kate's stall stands Queen, a beautiful four-year-old. Those who know say that Queen is the very image of Kate in her younger days. Queen is the only offspring of Kate, and, except for the marks of age, had the same well-formed head and large, 11 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF full eye and thin nostrils, indicating the same ambition and hot blood. Queen was known to everybody as the daughter of Old Kate. She was ad- mired by everyone for her beauty. She was praised by some for her excellent behavior and speed record, while a great many feared she would develop the ungovernable temper of her mother, and it was also hinted that there was much vicious blood in the line of her sire. This evening Queen seemed espec- ially kind and placid as she ate her evening meal. She had a right to feel greatly pleased, for she had that day carried off the first prize in one of the best horse shows that had ever been held in that part of the state. Her free, graceful actions, combined with her well- groomed coat of brown, beautifully arched neck and lithe limbs made her the center of all admiring eyes. When before the amphitheater she 12 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN performed one or two of her neat little tricks, taught her by her driver, and then, when she turned to the crowd, with her intelligent eyes sparkling and nostrils dilated, and acknowledged their applause by three dignified bows of her head, it seemed that that vast crowd screamed and yelled enough to make a driver lose his head and frighten any ordinary horse. Of course her mother noticed by her proud neck and elastic step as she en- tered her stall that evening that some- thing unusual had happened. Between bites of hay they had asked and an- swered a number of questions pertain- ing to the day, when Old Kate, upon being asked why she was never taken out to such pleasant places, assumed a reminiscent mood, and, for the first time, told her past story to her daughter. I shall do my best to interpret old Kate's story, as she told it that night in 13 Digitized by Microsoft® TI-IE STORY OF her simple sign language. It was told by the rubbing of noses', with now and then a low whinny. Her story was em- phasized by a flash of the eye and dis- tended nostril as some exciting scene came up in memory; often the flat ears and glaring teeth indicated great pas- sion aroused, and many times, as tales of terrible abuse and painful accidents were related, the skin twitched and the whole body shook with nervousness. At intervals the sides of her stall resounded with a kick that was only the involun- tary emphasis placed upon that part of her story that told of her enormous ef- forts to release herself from many en- tangling traps. From these signs her story inter- preted is as follows: "I was brought to this place fourteen years ago. I was then young and full of fun and life. The best of care had always been given me. I received my dainties to eat and 14 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN was groomed carefully every day. I can not say that I did not receive the same treatment when I came here, but, soon after I came, a misunderstanding arose between me and the man who has blighted all my happiness. This mis- understanding was slight at first, but it continually grew, until within the last five or six years we have had nothing to do with each other. "I believe that it was just after din- ner of the third or fourth day that I came here that my trouble began. A man came into the stable talking loudly, and walked up behind me with a whip and a large bunch of stuff, that I after- wards learned was harness. I did not know then v/hat it v»^as, and that, with his loud talking, stirred my sensitive nerves at once. He yelled somiething at me that I did not understand and started to walk up to my side. I was afraid of him, so I stepped over in front 15 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF of him, to keep him out. My stall was narrow, and I could easily do it. He struck me with the whip and said some- thing very loudly that I did not under- stand. I suppose it was, 'Stand over,' or something like that. I did not know a word of man's language then, so I do not remember what he did say. "He tried to get in by me two or three times, but each time I crowded him out. He then took his whip and gave me an awful whipping. I do not know to this day why he whipped me. He ought to have known, when I told him by snorting and turning my head to- ward that black bunch he had on his arm, that I was afraid of it. This whipping made me so nervous that I could not stand still, and I just had to dance around. When he started up to my side the next time, I suppose that I stepped on his toe, in my nervousness, judging from the way he yelled at me 16 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AN13 gUEEX and the wa^- he walked when he went out. I thought he had found out that the black bunch frightened me and had taken it away, but in a minute or two he came into the room in front of me. He dropped the bunch and untied my halter strap and drew it up so short that my head was drawn close to the manger. He then brought that awful black bunch and thrcAV it on my manger. Then he jumped into the manger himself and on into my stall. I pulled and tugged to get away for he looked terrible, coming over the manger like a big dog. I tried to crowd him out when he got that black bunch, but I was tied so short I could not. "When he threw it on me 1 twisted and bowed m^' back and pulled back and jumped against the manger, but he succeeded in fastening it on me. If he had only let me touch it, as I did one day when he hung it on my manger and 17 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF went away to do something else, I know I would not have had that fright. I never could overcome the nervous shock of that first harnessing and never after- wards could stand still to be harnessed. After the harness was fastened on me a bridle was put on my head so I could not see on either side or behind. A piece of iron was put into my mouth that I tried for a long time to spit out. I was taken into the barn-lot and pulled around a few times, first one way and then the other. After jerking me around and saying many things that I did not understand, and striking me with the whip every few steps, two men held me, while a couple more ran something up behind me and fastened it . to me. My head was fastened up tight so that the piece of iron hurt me worse than ever. "If I remember correctly, I went several miles that day, sometimes with one fellow walking by my side holding 18 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN the iron in my mouth, and sometimes with both men behind me. Everything was confusion to me, and I do not re- member much that happened or where we went. When I was put in my stall that night I was tired and sore all over. When the excitement was over, I felt for the first time the welts made by heavy blows of the whip, and the gash under my tongue made by one of the men jerking the iron, while I had my tongue over it trying to spit it out. Many blisters reminded me of the har- ness rubbing my tender skin. Out of all the confusion of that afternoon nothing remained vividly in my mind but that bunch of harness and that fel- low crawling over the manger. "During all that night, and for sev- eral days, I jumped at every little noise, fearing the approach of that man with that awful whip and bunch of harness. I suppose the men meant to teach me 19 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF something, hut thcj^ had me so scared to- begin with and then said so many things that I did not understand, that I knew less how to comprehend man's wishes than I did before. The men were busj' for several days and 1 was allowed to remain in the stall. "I was feeling pretty good again, when one rainy morning in came that fellow with that bunch of harness. M3' nerves just went all to pieces. It took some time for that fellow to get the harness on me and hitch me to the rig. Where the harness had rubbed me be- fore was about well again, so 1 did not mind the harness so much this time, but my mouth was very sore and the rein bothered me so that it took my whole at- tention to that, and I remembered noth- ing else distinctly. I came in as tired and sore as before, disgusted with the whole business. I tried m}^ best to un- derstand what was w^anted of me, but so 20 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEX much was said and done that I under- stood nothing. "Many times the driver thought I knew what he wanted, when ] was only so tired that 1 did things in a mechanical way and did not realize what I had done. Those first two drives were just like several others. It must have been a dozen times that I was drixen before I really knew that pressure on the left side of the mouth meant to turn to the right and that pressure on the right side meant for me to go to the left. I remember, too, how long it took me to learn when to start and when to stop without the driver using the whip or lines. I'll never forget the time I thought that I had learned that 'Ho' meant to stop. It must have been nearly a year after the}' had first hitched me when Mr. Lamar was driving me ai my very best gait i^ast a neighbor's house, because he A\anted this neighbor to see 21 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF my speed. As we passed someone spoke to Mr. Lamar, and he yelled 'Hello.' I stopped suddenly, having previously de- termined to stop before I received a pull on the lines, and Mr. Lamar almost fell over the dash. He hit me a terrible cut with the whip and I then and there determined never to stop again, until I received a pull on the lines. It was even more confusing to know when to start. The hired man always hit me a lick and then said, 'Get-up' or 'Go-on,' and of course I was thinking about the whip and not what he said after- wards. Mr. Lamar sometimes said, 'Go long,' sometimes made a clucking noise like an old hen and sometimes a kissing noise before he tapped me with the lines or whip. I do not see why the men could not have definite words for what they expected of me and use some method to get me to understand them more quickly. It seems to me that they 22 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN could have taught me the use of the bit and when to stand and start, without having me pull that heavy cart or wagon at the same time. "Nothing worth relating happened for several months, excepting my first experience in being shod. Mr. Lamar drove me to town one morning and hitched me in front of a black looking building, where several other horses were standing. Every few minutes a horse would be brought out and another taken in. I wondered why they went in there and what caused the noise. A large, rough fellow soon unhitched me and led me to the door. I stopped to look in, but could not see much, for it was dark in there, except one place where there was a fire with sparks flying in all directions, and from it came a rum- bling noise intermingled with a ringing sound. The place smelled differently from any place I had ever smelled. I 23 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF feared to enter and braced my front feet when the man pulled at my strap. I had not yet got my eyes accustomed to the darkness inside, when a shower of sparks fell almost at my feet, and at the same time something hit me across the hips with a resounding whack. I leaped forward, only to find that I was securely tied to the side of the build- ing. The sparks from the fire behind me flew in showers at short intervals and kept me trembling with fear lest they would give me another whack across the hips. "A fellow set a box behind me, then grabbed one of my hind legs. No one had had hold of my legs before and I leaped to one side to get away from him, but he stuck to it. I swung him back and forth, but could not get him loose, so I let my whole weight down on him. He had to let go, and sprang from under me. It took the fellow a long 24 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN time to get me to stand long enough for him to pick all my feet up and cut them fiat at the bottom. "Another fellow came with some iron pieces he called shoes, and began to nail them to my feet. When he began pound- ing it hurt my tender foot, causing me to jerk it very quickly. Somehow my foot caught fast in his pants and almost tore them ofif his legs. He struck me with his hammer and yelled so loud that I snorted and pranced and de- termined that he should not hammer my tender feet and then punish me be- cause it hurt. "He struck me again, then grabbed my leg, but I jerked away and kicked at him. The shoe flew from my foot, just missed his head and struck the side of the building with a whack. The man then untied me, placed a noose over the tender part of my nose, placed a stick through it, and twisted it up tight. I 25 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF think they called this a twitch. They jerked it several times and made my nose sting. I suppose that it hurt me so that I did not notice the man lift my leg and hammer my foot. The man holding the twitch, thinking I had given up, loosened it and the pain ceased. I saw the fellow holding my foot and felt the jars of the hammer. I gave a quick leap forward, jerking my foot free and upsetting the blacksmith. I made sev- eral leaps and kicks, causing a horse at my side to break loose and creating a panic among three or four men who fell backward from their kegs and boxes. "The man in front recovered his rope again and I felt its painful jerks on my nose. He also pinched my ear with a pair of tongs. Again the blacksmith hit me a terrific blow with his hammer and seized my foot. I resented it with as hard a kick as possible at such close range and sent him sprawling on a heap 26 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN of scrap iron. The pain on my nose and ear became so terrible that I did not know what was done with my feet or who shod me. When I left the shop I had four new iron shoes on, my nose was tingling with pain, and my ear felt like it was almost pulled out. Mr. Lamar returned from his business up town while the men were hitching me up. I think a blacksmith shop is one of the worst places there is for horses. It makes me shudder yet to think of them and the hard fights I have had in them. "Mr. Lamar continued to drive me most of the time. He considered me well broke, but I hardly know just what that means, for I could understand but little of what was expected of me and, since Mr. Lamar was a very quiet sort of a fellow, I really went along to suit myself. I was developing a great deal of speed, and, being considered a good family horse, usuall}^ took the family in 27 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF the beautiful carriage for their evening dri\es over to the cit}-. I" was then in the prime of my Hfe and would have been one of the happiest horses alive, if I could ha\e felt, that there was a com- plete understanding between me and my driver. "I believe it was the summer that I was six years old (here old Kate gave a vicious kick and snapj^ed her teeth so fiercely that it startled Queen, who had been intensely interested in her mother's story) that Bill Temper came to work for Mr. Lamar. He was always in a hurry, and if things did not go to suit him, always flew into a passion. I often wonder why Mr. Lamar kept him, for he was so reckless in his speed that he was always getting into trouble. Some- how I took a dislike to him the first morning he came into the stable. He came in a flurry that made us all feel uneasy. When he came to clean my 28 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN stall, the iirst thing he did was to prod my sensiti\ e legs with the fork and af- terwards yell, 'Get over.' 1 involun- tarily bounced with my hind legs and scringed every time the fork came alx)Ut me for fear I would get struck again. He came in, a few moments later, roughly threw the harness on me and hitched me to the spring wagon. He was hardly seated in the wagon until he hit me a cut with the whip and yelled crossly, 'Go long.' 1 didn't lose much time in starting, I tell you, and took him a pretty good clip. "T do not know whether mj' gait pleased him or not, for every little bit he would speak roughly to me, which kept me unnerved all the time. Bill taught me that morning how tu get around objects that frightened me. Down b>- old Mr. Johnson's woods lay a black log that 1 had alwa>s been afraid of. I always watched that log 29 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF when I went by and usually snorted to chase away any beast that might be be- hind it, for I once saw the weeds shaken by something hidden there. Mr. Lamar had always let me take my time in go- ing by so I could watch it better. When I stopped to walk by that spot that morning with Bill, he hit me a cut with the whip just as I thought I saw the weeds move again. Of course, I thought something by that log had hit me, and I circled around it as fast as I could go. "When we came back that way, Bill was afraid to pass there too, for he be- gan jerking the lines nervously and whipped me when we were past the place, so we could get away quicker. I kept away as far as I could by going into the side ditch. A little further down the road there was something hanging on a weed just off the side of the road. I thought it was only a piece of paper, but being somewhat nervous 30 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN yet, I watched it pretty closely. Just as I had about decided it was a piece of paper, it moved and something hit me. I again went around by the side ditch, as far away as I could. "I came home from that trip very much worried, for I had trotted fast with the old spring wagon. The excite- ment caused by our two frights and Bill Temper's irritable manner, left me very nervous. I did not enjoy my supper very much that night, and had hardly finished when Bill came in with the fork to fix my bedding. Either care- lessly, or purposely, that fork struck me again, and being nervous anyway and afraid of it, I kicked it as hard as I could. I do not know whether forks bite or not, but when I kicked, two prongs of that fork fastened to each side of my pastern, and how I did kick to get it loose. I remember how the boards of my stall broke and flew in all 31 Digitized by Microsoft® T}fE STORY OF directions. Bill was mixed up in it. too, for he had hold of the fork part of the time, and I kicked him too. I really think he wanted it to hurt me, at least he had it in his hand when I finally kicked it loose. After that Bill always put me in another stall to clean mine, for I never after allowed a fork about. 1 made things so lively that the men kept them away. Mr. Lamar was gone for several weeks that summer and Bill drove me very frecjuentlj'. In fact, 1 think he made some very weak excuses, sometimes, merel}' to get me out for a drive. "I learned several things of Bill. He so thoroughly drilled me in hurrying around objects that frightened me, that 1 circled around everything in which there was the least possibility of danger, and it became such a habit that I did it sometimes when there was really noth- ing to be frightened at. He taught me Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN to start as soon as I heai-d his foot on the buggy step. Another thing that v/as vividly impressed on my mind was that I should never allow any horse to go around me. It took many a race for me to learn that point, but Bill never let any opportunity pass by without giving me some practice. "Nearly all the horses in the com- munity soon learned that it was no use to try to pass me, and did not often at- tempt it. There were two or three from the city I often saw on the road that gave me the fastest races we had. One, especially, gave me many a race before I felt confident of being able to keep ahead of any horse on the road. This little gray I could always tell as far as I could hear her, by a peculiar pat of her feet. Whenever I heard her coming, I went my best to keep ahead. "One morning the latter part of the summer I heard the familiar voice of 33 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF Mr. Lamar again. He came into the barn and came in my stall, saying some- thing about me not being as fat as usual. He left the barn and returned again in a few minutes with a new set of har- ness, which he proceeded to fit to me and took me out and hitched me to the carriage. He seemed very proud of his harness, and placed special emphasis upon the fact that it had the latest style shaft band. I noticed when he fastened it that he wrapped it two or three times around the shafts just as if he feared the shafts might fly up and hurt somebody. He took the whole family for a drive that day. Whenever one of them stepped on the step I started quickly, and each time received a jerk from Mr. Lamar. I couldn't understand why I should not start, when Bill had taught me that a foot on the step meant to go. We finally got started, after I had reared a time or two, with every- 34 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN body scolding about their hats being knocked awry, and me considerably ir- ritated, because I had been fooled so often. "I took them down the road at a pretty good gait, dodging from one side of the road to the other, as it seemed necessary in order to avoid all suspici- ous-looking objects. It surprised Mr. Lamar somewhat, when I went very fast by the log and around by the side ditch. He said something about me get- ting more afraid rather than getting used to the log; I did my best to show him that it was best, as Bill had taught me, to hurry around suspicious objects, but he did not seem to understand me. Two or three times the women screamed as I crowded over to the other side of the road away from something, and nearly collided with a buggy, and once or twice almost missed the end of some culvert. 35 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF "Just as we left the city that evening,, I heard the familiar sound of that gray horse coming up behind me. I was de- termined that, although it was hitched to a light rig and me to a heavy carriage, it should not pass me. "The gray attempted to get around me by a quick dash, but I was watching for that, and away we went. A man ahead saw us coming and turned into the side ditch to let us pass. Chickens flew from the road as we dashed by the farm houses; children scampered from the dust and watched us from gate posts as we raced by. The women screamed as we dashed past a load of hay, for the carriage top rubbed the hay and the outer wheels were in the ditch; but that gray must not pass. We had not gone more than half a mile until that gray was far behind. Just as we were about to turn into the lane at home, a horse and a buggy came out, which, I thought 36 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN intended to go around us, and I went into the lane so fast that the hind wheels slid, making the women scream again. I had hoped to please Mr. Lamar, after he had been gone so long, and, so had done my best. I think though that he was not very well pleased with me, for his voice to the men seemed grufif, while he said a great deal about 'shyer,' 'tough-mouthed,' 'not safe for the fam- ily,' 'wouldn't stand,' and many other things that I did not understand. "The next morning Bill and Mr. Lamar came in and examined the bit of my bridle. Bill said something about 'hacking it with a hatchet,' and Mr. Lamar talked about a 'Jaw Breaker.' Bill hitched me to the buggy and we went to town and stopped before a har- ness store. Bill brought out a large bright object with a chain across it, which, I supposed, was a bit. Bill slip- ped my bridle off to buckle the^bit on. 37 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF For the first time in my life, I saw the buggy to which I was hitched. It looked so much different straight behind me, than it did oflf to one side or when another horse was hitched to it, that I became terribly frightened. No sooner had the bridle been slipped off than I leaped for- ward. Bill grabbed the end of the shaft and my mane and ran along with me for quite a distance, but could not keep up. The front wheel struck him and knocked him down. Men ran out from side streets, stores and alleys, and ran direct- ly toward me, frightening me more and more, and, as I circled around them, my buggy caught the wheels of others and upset them. "I can not describe to you all the noises and terrible sights I saw there in a few minutes; buggies upset, horses running, men yelling and all the time that frightful buggy right behind me. I had never seen objects in the city ex- 38 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN cept directly in front of me, and now, with no bridle on, everything was fright- ful all around me. How I did run to get out of that awful place! It is an exper- ience that will stay with me as long as I live. I believe I was almost insane. At the first corner the buggy upset and frightened me all the more. There was a loud crash and the top was left in the street. Something cut my heels that reminded me of the prods of the fork and how I kicked! I thought every moment that I would be killed, and so I kicked my best to get it away from me. The pieces flew thick and fast. The last wheel caught in a truck wagon and I left it there. I did not go far beyond that until the harness became entangled in my feet and threw me so I could not get up. A man came from a livery stable near by, with a bridle, and led me into a stall. "Bill soon came up, hatless and breath- 39 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF less, with blood streaming from his nose and a gash in his face where the wheel had struck him. They took the new harness and got it mended and brought my bridle with the 'jaw breaker' and hitched me to a buggy from the livery stable. I felt like getting away from something all the way home. My heels were badly cut by the buggy in the run- ning, and that 'jaw breaker' was the most maddening thing I ever had on. It filled my mouth full and cut the tender skin of my jaw. My mouth was soon so numb that I could hardly feel a pull on the lines. That bit and set of harness made my torture com- plete. I could not understand why Mr. Lamar could be induced to buy such a set. When we went down hill the shafts would not slip forward in the shaft holders, and the whole loa.d pushed forward on my back. By the time we reached the bottom of the hill the shafts 40 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN had worked enough forward to cause me to pull all the load with the back band. Even on smooth roads the con- tinual backward and forward motion of the shafts was very irritating. As I think back over the torture of that drive home, I wonder how I stood it. I went as fast as I could to get home in the quiet stall, and Bill and I both felt considerably relieved when we got there. "I did not rest well that night. My mouth hurt. My back was rubbed raw, and a big raw spot on each side, back of my front legs, made by the shaft band; my crupper had rubbed the hide off entirely around my tail, caused, I think, by being reined so tight, and the shaft band jerking back and forth. All these, with my sore heels, made me spend a miserable night. By the next morning, the sting had left the sore spots, but there remained a dull sore- ness that is hard to describe, that made 41 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF me feel miserable. The nervous shock of the day before also added to my misery. I had just finished my morn- ing meal and had settled back for a day's rest, when Bill came in with the harness. He threw it heavily over my back. I bowed my back and twisted around and stamped my feet to tell him the best I could that they hurt me. But he just scolded me and began to draw the girth up tighter. I couldn't stand it any longer, and I just reached around while he was stooping over, and bit him pretty hard about the bottom of the coat tail. Bill jumped and screamed so loud that I was afraid I had killed him, but I didn't care much. "I had done my best to let him know the harness hurt me, but he paid no at- tention until I bit him. I always used my teeth after that, as that seemed one of the best ways to make a man under- stand what I wanted. A few seconds 42 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN after I bit Bill, the bridle flew into my face and hit me several blows over the head. I never liked to see the bridle coming toward me after that and al- ways kept my head as far away as pos- sible. Bill next stepped back and jerked my sore tail up so high and jerked the crupper under it so roughly that it al- most set my teeth on edge with pain. It made me so mad to think a man had no more sense, that I gave him a side- wiper that sent him back against the barn all in a heap. "He was so far back that I couldn't reach him, but' in my mad excitement, I kicked anyway. Bill soon regained his breath and that dreaded fork handle began to strike me from behind the par- tition of my stall. Then I kicked with all the power of my strength. My earlier experience with the fork and the experience of the day before seemed to roll in upon me. The harness fell off 43 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF of me and was sent flying to the rear of my stall. The splinters flew from the side of my stall, and I felt able to to kick the barn to pieces. When it ended, Mr. Lamar and two or three other men were there. They said some- thing about not letting me whip them out, and, after looking in the stable door at my rear a few times, they seemed to be afraid to come up behind me. "One of the men entered the feed room with the harness on his arm and started to climb over the manger. It reminded me of the man scaring me so badly the first time I was harnessed that I lost control of myself, and threw my whole weight back on my halter strap. A board of my manger split ofif and let me fall backwards near the door. I leaped out of the barn with the board hanging to me. I was so frightened that I did not feel the many deep cuts and gcishes that board gave me as I ran. I 44 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN tried hard to get away from it, but I could not. Finally it struck me a cruel blow as I ran into a corner of the barn- yard. It penetrated my breast and knocked me down. As the men ran up some said it would kill me, and I thought so myself when they pulled it out and helped me into a large box stall. "I lay in the stall several weeks be- fore I finally became able to get on my feet. I was unable to be hitched up all that winter. The men were so rough in handling me, being so sore all over, as I was, that I bit and kicked as soon as I could do so. Consequently, I did not get very good care, but being of a vigor- ous constitution, my wounds all healed by spring. "One nice day that spring Mr. Lamar came into the barn and said several things to Bill, in which I recognized the words, 'Kate needs exercise,' and 'She has forgotten her bad experiences.' Pret- 45 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF ty soon Bill came in with the harness, but I soon made him get out with it, for somehow it scared me and made my my back hurt to look at them. I was led out in the yard and harnessed, for it did not look so frightful there, where there was plenty of room. They had the 'jaw breaker' bit on, and when go- ing over, Mr. Lamar said something about me being a 'lugger' yet. I do not know what a 'lugger' is, but I sup- pose it is all right. I felt good, being the first time I had been out, and the day being so beautiful, I took them a lively drive. I dodged around every- thing that was unfamiliar and went farther away from them than before, because of the recollection of former pain. Each time I circled around, some- thing struck me. It may have been Bill's whip, but since my whole atten- tion was on the object, I think it was the object that struck me. Away we went 46 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN down the main street. I saw the steam cars and a street car at a distance. I never saw one close, for Bill and Mr. Lamar were so afraid of them that they stopped a square away from the steam cars and always had me hurry up a side street when they saw a street car coming. "Bill and Mr. Lamar tied me by the grocery, and had just stepped inside when a woman came along with an um- brella, and raised it directly in front of me. The man on the manger flashed immediately through my senses, and I squared myself and gave a mighty pull. The rope with which I was tied snapped easily, and I started down the street. "The first jump or two brought back all the feelings of my previous runaway. I felt ungoverned again and knew my power to get away from the rig. I was just about to kick everything loose as I ran, when a man seized my bit, threw his weight against my shoulder and 47 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF pulled my head sidewise so that I had to stop. I had dodged the men who had run straight out after me, but this man was running from me and grabbed me as I went by. I believe he knew some- thing about horses, for he seemed to know just how I felt and soothed my nerves considerably by a few strokes with his hand on my neck. Mr. Lamar and Bill soon came up and gave the fel- low a round, bright piece, unsnapped the rope from my neck and drove off. "I was just going around the corner, Bill letting me go pretty fast, when I almost ran into the queerest looking thing I ever saw. As near as I can re- member, it looked like a low buggy, but sounded like a steam engine. There were some hideous looking objects inside with large eyes. Altogether it was the most horrid looking object I ever saw. Bill suggested what to do, by pulling on one line and hitting me a cut with the 48 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN whip. I was too close to circle around, so I reared and gave a forward leap. I was so frightened that I didn't know, or care, where I leaped. I came down on something that crashed and tore, and directly beneath me was that hideous machine. I leaped out somehow and the buggy and the machine were all in a heap. The buggy stuck to me and lit on the four wheels with Bill still in, and if ever people in that town saw run- ning, they saw it that day. The buggy swayed from one side of the street to the other. That, with Bill's yells, made me frantic. People ran and screamed. Buggies disappeared around corners. Houses seemed to be flying away from rne as I passed by. "Thus block after block I ran, when some one rushed out from a side street. I swayed to the opposite side of the street. The hub caught on a hitching post, the buggy stopped suddenly, pitch- 49 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF ing Bill high in the air over a yard fence and head foremost into a flower bed. I was headed toward home, and made quick time in getting there. I was so badly bruised that I was again in the box stall several days. "Mr. Lamar came into the stable one day and heaved a sigh as he leaned against the manger. He muttered some- thing about 'None better bred in the country,' and 'Pretty as a picture.' I think he meant me, for he looked at me all the time he talked. He said some- thing more about 'Counting on her for a family horse.' I think he was very much discouraged about something, judging from his dejected appearance. "A few days later, as I watched the men hauling some stone off the field, one of the horses began to paw, and finally lay down. I watched the men work with it for several minutes, and came to the conclusion that it was sick. I 50 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN often stood for hours with my head out of my Httle door and watched the men and horses at work. I often wished I could be out with them instead of being kept in my stall so long. After a while the men got the horse up and unhitched it. One of them got on it and ran it up and down the field several times as hard as he could make it go. I did not think it was very good for a sick horse, but it is hard to understand men's ways, and he might have been hunting for some- thing. The horse was brought to the stable and placed in a large stall by the side of mine. Mr. Lamar started to town for a horse doctor and told the men to 'Put Kate to work if you can work her.' "One large fellow whom they called Pete, replied that he could work any- thing with four feet. I was taken out of the barn and harnessed, and hitched to the wagon with the load of stone. 51 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF Pete took the lines and cracked his whip, and I leaped forward. I struck my shoulders against something hard, and Old Joe, the other horse, nearly fell backwards. Pete began lashing me with the whip. I leaped and plunged to get away from there, but every time I went forward I hurt my shoulders and Old Joe went backwards. I got so be- wildered that I just stood and pranced and broke out in a cold sweat all over. Pete came and patted me on the neck, and left us stand awhile. He tried again, but Old Joe would not start at all when I did, and my shoulders were getting so sore I didn't go forward very hard, but mostly sideways. Pete came and patted me again and unloaded nearly all the stone. He took the lines again, and again I started forward and nearly pulled Old Joe and the wagon. "I never got such a licking in my life as I got from Pete after the wagon 52 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN started. He drove around in a circle lashing me every step. The end of the lash cut my hide open in different places, and the hissing of the whip as it cut through the air, hurt me almost as bad as the blow. I reared and plunged to go faster, but Old Joe would not get in the notion. We circled around by the stones and they were loaded again. I stood and pranced and sweat. My whole body ached and shook. Pete came and stroked my neck and said something, and Old Joe started. I remembered the terrible licking because I started the other time, so I stood prancing and snorting. "Pete tried several times to fool me into starting, but I knew better after he had petted me for standing and thrashed me for going. They unloaded the stones again, but I was so mad by this time with those men fooling around that I just stood and kicked. After an hour or two, Pete unhitched Old Joe and 53 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF hitched him to my mouth with a chairs around my lower jaw. I leaped and plunged in every direction to free my- self from that chain. I thought I had endured every torture that could be heaped upon a horse, but that was the worst of all. I believe that I would have jerked my jaw off to free myself, had not the hook slipped off the link and let me free. I soon stripped myself of the harness and ran into my stall. "That was the last time I ever had the harness on. I was turned out in the pasture for a brood mare. You are my only offspring, Queen, and have the same lithe form and high ambition I once had. You must understand the language of men or you could not be so- happy. I always did my best to under- stand their meaning, but could never get a clue to their language. That is the reason I suffer with my aching muscles, uncared for and considered art 54 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN outlaw by man. Because I developed a quick temper in protecting myself, and bear the ugly scars of my battles for life, I am rejected even by my own kind." Here Old Kate gave a kick of re- sentment that aroused all the horses dozing in their stalls. Not knowing the surging emotions back of Old Kate's action, all condemned her for contin- ually disturbing the peace of the stable, except Queen, and she gave a whinny of sympathy that soothed Kate's over- wrought nerves. Upon the promise of Queen to explain her contentment and peaceable disposition, in spite of her natural nei-vousness, Kate dropped her head in sleep and the stables were clothed in silence except for the rythmical breath- ing of the horses. 55 Digitized by Microsoft® QUEEN" Digitized by Microsoft® QUEEN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. The evening following Old Kate's confession she ate her meal with greater alacrity than usual, for she had not for- gotten that this was the evening her daughter, Queen, was to tell her the story of her life. Since Queen was two years old their lives had gradually di- verged until it seemed that an impassa- ble gulf had come between them. Now that she had told her story, the best she could, and Queen had promised to tell her experiences, visions of an unknown life, full of harmony and peace, seemed about to open to her starved existence, and she was anxious that Queen should begin. Queen had scarcely begun when a nose appeared in front of the adjoining stall, attracting the attention of the horse to the left. Noses kept appear- 57 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF ing thus in each stall, alternately, until the attention of the last horse was at- tracted. Queen had the respect and con- fidence of every horse in the stable. She was so beautiful and her manners so perfect, that all felt that Queen was the ideal to be sought by the horse kingdom. If there was any uproar in the stables, it never proceeded from Queen's stall. If there was trouble between the men and some of the horses. Queen was never one of the horses. Her under- standing of man's ways and language was so acute, that, to the horses, she seemed often to anticipate even men's wishes. So marvelous was her under- standing that the horses could not help but notice that even the men acknowl- edged her superiority by always speak- ing to her in a low, kind tone. In fact it seemed that with the coming of Queen a new spirit had taken posses- sion of the stables. 58 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN Roy Lamar, Mr. Lamar's son, had' become the dominating character of the stables when Queen came in, and with his advent. Bill Temper and Pete had disappeared and more humane and thoughtful fellows had taken their places. Of course it was natural for the horses^ in their simple way, to attribute all these changes to the beautiful dispo- sition of Queen. Therefore, when word was passed along that Queen had some- thing to say, all listened attentively. You would have been really interested if you could have seen and heard the graceful Queen tell her story of knowl- edge gained and ambitions attained. It was a story of conquests and triumphs- that I gathered from the dainty tosses of the head, the sparkle of ambitious eyes and the triumphant arch of the neck. It was a language of harmonious; action, that most men call signs, but which is one of the most eloquent of 5S) Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF languages when understood. Queen be- gan speaking mostly to her mother, but understood by nearly all the horses in the stable. "The first two years of my life you know very well, mother, for we spent those happy days together. It was a life of freedom spent in the pasture lot and in the barn. I have only a general impression of those days, for my body was growing and developing rather than my mind. I had a natural fear of all objects that I suppose you taught me, but how or when you did it, I do not remember. It was the winter that I was coming two years old that my body became nearly developed and my mind awakened to my surroundings. I felt for the first time that I was equal to any of the horses about me in strength. I could run faster than any of them and could kick as high. I had never been touched by man and knew no restraint 60 Digitized by Microsoft® KATE AND QUEEN but the pasture fence. I was just a natural horse, with all a horse's in- stincts well developed, backed by blood well selected for generations. I felt, mother, just as you say you did at the age of two years, but there our common experiences cease. It seems that your life has been a series of disappoint- ments, while mine has been a continuous development. "One morning in March Mr. Lamar and Roy came into the feed room and talked very earnestly for some time. I do not know what they said, for I did not understand a word of man's lan- guage then, but, after that Roy always fed me in the morning and evening and seemed to claim me as his own. He went away every day toward town until the corn was planted. I think he went where the boys all collect together in the winter time,, for I have seen large crowds of them together in a large yard 61 Digitized by Microsoft® THE STORY OF in town since. A week or two after he quit going away, he opened my stable door and drove me over into the little barn-lot, where the sheep are kept in the winter. He came in and closed the gate. It frightened me very much to have a man in such a small place with me, and not be able to get away. I ran to the farthest corner, but he followed me. After he had followed me around the lot two or three times and I was not quite so afraid of him, Roy said, 'Come here,' and something cracked very loudly that made me jump and tremble. I noticed for the first time that he had a long whip with him. I did not know what it all meant, so I tried the harder to keep away from him. He repeated his words several times, and each time the whip