I found the ending of Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell, to be a satisfying ending. It seemed to wrap things up nicely. After Beauty is injured and nearly overworked to death, he ends up in a beautiful home surrounded by people who care for him for the rest of his life. Although it is rather bittersweet, as the last line reminds us of everything Beauty has lost: “often, before I am quite awake, I fancy I am still in the orchard at Birtwick, standing with my old friends under the apple trees” (49.22). This line shows that even in the comfort of his lovely home, Black Beauty still wishes he were somewhere else. He still thinks about the time he spent at Birtwick Park with Ginger and Merrylegs. It is a reminder of Ginger’s not so happy ending, and Beauty never finds out how Merrylegs’ story ends.
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At the time this book was written, horses faced new hardships every time they were sold to a new master. The tasks of a working horse were never ending.
One of Beauty’s fellow horses at Birtwick Park, Sir Oliver, tells the other horses about when he had his tail docked as a colt. “When I was young I was taken to a place where those cruel things were done. I was tied up and made fast so that I could not stir, and then they came and cut off my long, beautiful tail, through the flesh and through the bone, and took it away.” (10.3). The fact that Sir Oliver included the detail of cutting through flesh and bone makes this very effective. And this isn’t the last time we hear about animal cruelty just for fashion.
At Earlshall, Beauty is forced to wear a bearing rein, a rein that holds a horse’s head back just because it’s “stylish”, for the first time. “When I returned from my work, my neck and chest were strained and painful, my mouth and tongue tender, and I felt worn and depressed.” (23.12). Beauty’s description of the pain that horses go through when they were a bearing rein makes this practice seem
At the time this book was written, horses faced new hardships every time they were sold to a new master. The tasks of a working horse were never ending.
One of Beauty’s fellow horses at Birtwick Park, Sir Oliver, tells the other horses about when he had his tail docked as a colt. “When I was young I was taken to a place where those cruel things were done. I was tied up and made fast so that I could not stir, and then they came and cut off my long, beautiful tail, through the flesh and through the bone, and took it away.” (10.3). The fact that Sir Oliver included the detail of cutting through flesh and bone makes this very effective. And this isn’t the last time we hear about animal cruelty just for fashion.
At Earlshall, Beauty is forced to wear a bearing rein, a rein that holds a horse’s head back just because it’s “stylish”, for the first time. “When I returned from my work, my neck and chest were strained and painful, my mouth and tongue tender, and I felt worn and depressed.” (23.12). Beauty’s description of the pain that horses go through when they were a bearing rein makes this practice seem