Under the direction and discipline of a good groom, boys of from fourteen to seventeen are soon taught to perform the duties of the stable. But until they have been well trained, and they must be trained while flexible, they are good for very little. It is only in a stable where the discipline never relaxes that they can learn their business well, and acquire those orderly habits which in a manner distinguish the taught from the untaught.

The boys employed about towns to look after a horse, or a horse and gig, generally come from the country, where they have seen some service among the cart-horses. Some of these boys are quiet, attentive, able to do something, and to learn more without much instruction; but a great many of them are awkward, thoughtless, and mischievous, not to be depended upon. It is not that their work is difficult to learn or to perform, but there is no keeping them at it. They are so fond of play, and so little accustomed to restraint, that one half of their work is always neglected, and the other half is never done in proper times. Everything is to seek when it is wanted, and when found not fit for use. Some are much worse than others. Many can attend to nothing. Their work is made subservient to their play One will be sent to walk a heated horse till cool, and he must ride the beast as if he were riding for a wager. Send him to exercise the horse, and he will gallop till he break its knees. Send by him a message, and he will forget one half of it, and take at least an hour more than he should to deliver the other half. The master has more to do for the servant than the servant for the master. The boy may not, perhaps, be so much to blame as his parents. They have taught him nothing.

He has sprung up like the wild weeds of the earth. If he has learned anything, good or bad, it is the result of chance, not of foresight on the part of his parents, whom he has scarcely learned even to obey. Instead of coming into the world with orderly and decent behavior, and a knowledge of what is due to those he serves, he has to learn those things from the master. It is natural and right that he should be a stern teacher. He has to deal with those who are little improved by gentleness. He may be severe, and he must, if he would make a good servant, and a useful member of society. Order in time and in place ought to be learned at home; but since it is not, that should be taught in the first place, as forming a groundwork upon which anything may be laid. " A place for everything, and everything in its place," is a golden rule. After that, kindness to the horse should be insisted on. Boys are cruel from want of reflection. Until hardened by habit, remonstrance, if properly managed, awakens their generous feelings, or excites that kind of consideration which saves the defenceless from abuse.

Livery and coaching stables about town are often infested by idle boys who want to ride. They hang about the stables from morning to night, and contrive to be of some little service to the men, and their reward is a horse to water or to exercise. These boys are always doing some mischief, either in play or in abuse. It is not for their own good to hang about stables in such a disorderly way, and their attendance is certainly injurious to the horses. The work should all be done by the men who are paid for it. Last year one proprietor lost two horses entirely, and had a third injured by boys, whom the proper stablemen had employed. Such accidents are very common.