Myself. - What Do You Mean By Saying That Only Madmen Bring Horses
To Galicia?
Ostler. - Senhor, no horse can stand the food of Galicia and the
mountains of Galicia long, without falling sick;
And then if he
does not die at once, he will cost you in farriers more than he is
worth; besides, a horse is of no use here, and cannot perform
amongst the broken ground the tenth part of the service which a
little pony mare can. By the by, Senhor, I perceive that yours is
an entire horse; now out of twenty ponies that you see on the roads
of Galicia, nineteen are mares; the males are sent down into
Castile to be sold. Senhor, your horse will become heated on our
roads, and will catch the bad glanders, for which there is no
remedy. Senhor, a man must be mad to bring any horse to Galicia,
but twice mad to bring an entero, as you have done.
"A strange country this of Galicia," said I, and went to consult
with Antonio.
It appeared that the information of the ostler was literally true
with regard to the horse-shoe; at least the blacksmith of the
village, to whom we conducted the animal, confessed his inability
to shoe him, having none that would fit his hoof: he said it was
very probable that we should be obliged to lead the animal to Lugo,
which, being a cavalry station, we might perhaps find there what we
wanted. He added, however, that the greatest part of the cavalry
soldiers were mounted on the ponies of the country, the mortality
amongst the horses brought from the level ground into Galicia being
frightful.
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