[Music] black beauty chapter 2 being trained [Music] i was almost four years old when farmer gray brought another man to see me it was squire gordon what a fine looking horse the squire said gazing at me indeed i was growing up to be very handsome i was jet black except for one white hoof and a white star on my forehead i'll start training him soon farmer gray said i like to let horses grow up before i ride them boys should not work like men squire gordon chuckled and then looked into my eyes he
gently opened my mouth to examine my teeth and ran his hands up and down my legs may i see how he moves he asked of course farmer gray replied i walked trotted and cantered while the two men watched when i finished the squire looked pleased please call me when he's trained he said this horse is exactly what i'm looking for the next day i began my training i already knew how to do lots of things i could wear a halter and walk calmly beside a human i could pick up my feet nicely so my hooves coul
d be trimmed but now i found there was much more to learn first came the bridle which looked a little like a halter but there was one big difference the bit that was a piece of metal attached to the leather straps imagine my surprise when farmer gray put the bit into my mouth i tried to spit it right back out but farmer gray used kind words and some grain to convince me not to do so still having the bit in my mouth was a very strange feeling i did not like it at all next farmer grace sat a saddl
e gently on my back there was a strap that he fastened under my body to hold the saddle in place i didn't mind that too much especially when he gave me more grain after that farmer gray saddled and bridled me every day and led me around he also gave me extra grain along with lots of pats and kind words before long i looked forward to my training sessions then one day farmer gray lifted himself into the saddle and sat on my back it felt strange but i could hear his voice talking to me from up the
re so i wasn't afraid soon farmer gray was riding me around the farm every day [Music] then he brought out a driving harness my mother and the other adult horses wore this harness whenever they were hooked to a cart or carriage the harness had a stiff heavy collar and a bridle with two squares of leather called blinkers attached to it with the blinkers on i could see straight ahead but not to the sides more harness pieces crossed my body and a stiff strap went under my tail the tail strap was ca
lled a cropper and i liked it even less than the bit the first time farmer gray put the cropper on me i felt like kicking but my mother had taught me well and i kept my feet on the ground i almost forgot to mention one more part of my training my master sent me to a nearby farm for a couple of weeks i was put out in a field with some sheep and cows there was plenty of delicious grass so i started to eat then i heard a roar in the distance seconds later a huge noisy black monster rushed into view
it terrified me so much that i galloped to the far end of the field to my surprise though the sheep and cows didn't react at all i soon found out that the monster was called a train and i learned why none of the other animals seem to notice the noise trains raced past that field several times every day at first i ran away each time then i stopped running and just lifted my head to watch finally i got used to the trains just as i'd grown used to the bit the saddle the harness and even the croppe
r i returned home and farmer gray started hooking me to a cart and driving me around the neighborhood he usually hitched my mother beside me she was a good calm horse who helped to teach me what to do you're learning fast my son she told me i'm glad because the better you behave the better humans will treat you what do you mean i asked her farmer gray always treats all the horses well yes she agreed but other humans aren't always as kind as our master i wasn't sure why i should worry about what
other humans were like but later i would find out more about that [Music] what is it like to be a horse i can tell you because i've been one all my life he really is a beauty his wife agreed we could call him black beauty black beauty
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