Alfred Smirk’s Neglect of Black Beauty shows how neglect can hide behind the appearance of civility: Alfred is courteous to his employer and strokes Black Beauty when watched, yet leaves essential daily care undone. The damage accumulates through a foul, damp stall, neglected feet, and lack of exercise until a farrier identifies thrush. Proper cleaning and a revised diet restore Black Beauty’s spirits, but the episode ends with Mr. Barry deciding not to keep a horse and selling him once his feet are sound.

Setting and Background

After Mr. Barry’s previous groom was dismissed, Alfred arrived as Black Beauty’s new groom. At first glance, he seemed well suited to the position: he was tall and good-looking, polite to Black Beauty, and especially attentive when his employer was present. He brushed the horse’s mane and tail with water and put oil on his hoofs before bringing him to the door, producing a smart appearance that helped Alfred seem diligent to others.

The contrast between this visible attention and the care Black Beauty needed defines the episode. Alfred did not thoroughly groom him, clean his feet, or check his shoes. He left the bit rusty, the saddle damp, and the crupper stiff. These were not isolated lapses in presentation; they indicated that equipment and routine care were being neglected even while Alfred maintained an agreeable manner in front of his employer.

Neglect and Its Effects

Black Beauty had a loose box, but Alfred did not properly clean it. He left old straw underneath the fresh bedding, and the resulting smell and vapors irritated Black Beauty’s eyes and reduced his appetite. When Mr. Barry noticed the odor and asked Alfred to scrub the stall and use plenty of water, Alfred agreed. A bricklayer was then called to investigate the stable, pulled up many bricks, found nothing wrong, and charged five shillings. The smell persisted: attention had been diverted from the unclean bedding to an unsuccessful search for a problem in the floor.

The damp, unclean stall also affected Black Beauty’s feet. They became unhealthy and tender, while Alfred failed to take him out for exercise regularly. When Mr. Barry was busy, Black Beauty could stand for days without stretching his legs, yet continued to receive as much corn as if he were doing hard work. He was not given green food or a bran mash. Instead of correcting these conditions, Alfred allowed horse balls and draughts to be given, treatments that Black Beauty found uncomfortable. The episode links the horse’s declining condition not to one dramatic injury but to repeated omissions in housing, exercise, feeding, and observation.

Diagnosis and Treatment

The problem became unmistakable when Black Beauty stumbled seriously twice while trotting over fresh stones with Mr. Barry on his back. As they came down Lansdown into the city, Mr. Barry stopped at a farrier’s. The farrier examined Black Beauty’s feet and diagnosed severe thrush, noting their tenderness and the risk that the horse might have fallen. He also connected the condition to foul stables where litter was not cleaned out properly, and questioned why the groom had not noticed it sooner.

The next day, the farrier thoroughly cleaned Black Beauty’s feet and packed them with tow soaked in a strong lotion. He ordered the litter removed from the box each day and the floor kept clean. He also prescribed bran mashes, a little green food, and less corn until the feet improved. Under this regimen, Black Beauty soon regained his spirits. The recovery makes the contrast between superficial grooming and effective care concrete: a clean stall, attentive hoof treatment, and suitable feeding address what Alfred’s showy preparations had left untreated.

Consequences and Significance

Mr. Barry was disgusted at having been deceived twice by his grooms. Rather than continue keeping a horse, he decided to hire one when needed. Black Beauty remained with him until his feet were completely sound, then was sold again. The sale is a practical consequence of the neglect, even though Black Beauty recovers from this particular episode: improved health does not restore his place in Mr. Barry’s stable.

The episode distinguishes deliberate rough handling from a quieter failure of responsibility. Alfred does not ill-use Black Beauty openly; his polished appearance and agreeable conduct instead conceal the gap between seeming attentive and providing sustained care. The horse’s symptoms, the farrier’s diagnosis, and the change in treatment expose that gap. In the wider moral terms of the narrative, humane treatment requires more than refraining from cruelty: it also requires noticing an animal’s condition and meeting ordinary needs before neglect develops into illness.