The horse, though possessed of some faculties superior to
man's being deficient in reasoning powers, has no knowledge of right or wrong,
of free will and independent government, and knows not of any imposition
practiced upon him, however unreasonable these impositions may be. Consequently,
he cannot come to any decision what he should or should not do, because he has
not the reasoning faculties of man to argue the justice of the thing demanded of
him. If he had, taking into consideration his superior strength, he would be
useless to man as a servant. Give him mind in proportion to his strength, and he
will demand of us the green fields for an inheritance, where he will roam at
leisure, denying the right of servitude at all.
God has wisely formed his nature so that it can be operated
upon by the knowledge of man according to the dictates of his will, and he might
well be termed an unconscious, submissive servant. This truth we can see
verified in every day's experience by the abuses practiced upon him. Any one who
chooses to be so cruel, can mount the noble steed and run him 'till he drops
with fatigue, or, as is often the case with more spirited, fall dead with the
rider. If he had the power to reason, would he not vault and pitch his rider,
rather than suffer him to run him to death? Or would he condescend to carry at
all the vain impostor, who, with but equal intellect, was trying to impose on
his equal rights and equally independent spirit? But happily for us, he has no
consciousness of imposition, no thought of disobedience except by impulse caused
by the violation of the law of nature.
Consequently when disobedient it is the fault of
man.
Then, we can but come to the conclusion, that if a horse is
not taken in a way at variance with the law of his nature, he will do anything
that he fully comprehends without making any offer of resistance.
