Black Beauty is a colt who has a good master and a comfortable life. One day he is in the feildfieldfeeledwith the other colts when he sees the hunt go by. The dogs have picked up the scent of a hare.

 'Now we shall see the hare,' said my mother; and just then a hare wild with fright rushtrushedrushet by, and made for the plantation. On came the dogs, they burst over the bank, leaped the stream, and came dashing across the field, followed by the huntsmen. Six or eight men leaped their horses clean over, close upon the dogs.  The hare tryedtriedtryied to get through the fence; it was too thick, and she turned sharp round to make for the road, but it was too late; the dogs were upon her with their wild cries; we heard one shriek, and that was the end of her.  One of the huntsmen rode up and whippedwippedwhippetoff the dogs, who would soon have torn her to pieces. He held her up by the leg, torn and bleeding, and all the gentlemen seemed well pleased.

 As for me, I was so astonishtastonishetastonished that I did not at first see what was going on by the brook; but when I did look, there was a sad sight; two fine horses were down,  one was struggling in the stream, and the other was growninggroaninggroneingon the grass. One of the riders was getting out of the water covered in mud, the other lay quite still.

 'His neck is browken,'broaken,'broken,'said my mother.

 'And serve him writeriterighttoo,' said one of the colts.

 I thoughtthortthoart the same, but my mother did not join in with us. 'Well, no,' she said, 'you must not say that, but though I am an old horse, and have seen and heard a great deal, I never yet could make out why men are so fond of this sport; they often hurt theyselves,themselfs,themselves,often spoil good horses, and tear up the fields, and all for a hare, or a fox, or a stag, that they could get more easily some other way; but we are only horses, and don't know.'

Created with ArgoSphere's Test Maker - www.argosphere.net