Bath

Bath is the setting for a difficult but temporary chapter in Black Beauty’s life: during his time there, good intentions from his owner cannot prevent neglect by the people entrusted with his care. The episode makes the city part of a broader account of how a horse’s welfare depends not only on an owner’s orders, but on attentive daily management and informed treatment.

Setting and Association

Mr. Barry, an unmarried man much occupied with business, lives in Bath and buys Black Beauty on his doctor’s advice that he take horse exercise. He hires a stable a short distance from his lodgings and engages a groom. The arrangement initially appears promising: Mr. Barry orders good hay, plenty of oats, crushed beans and bran, as well as green fodder when considered necessary. Black Beauty hears the order and expects to be well cared for.

Stable Management and Declining Condition

At first the groom keeps the stable clean and airy, grooms Black Beauty thoroughly, and handles him gently. The care changes, however: the horse’s oats become scarce, with bran mixed into the beans in their place. For about two months he receives no more than a quarter of the oats he should have had. Though the other grass foods are good, they do not maintain his strength and spirits without sufficient corn. Unable to communicate his needs, Black Beauty can only endure the change while wondering why his owner does not notice it.

In the same period, inadequate exercise and unsuitable feeding further affect his health. When Mr. Barry is busy, Black Beauty may stand for days without stretching his legs, while still receiving food as though he were working hard. He becomes alternately dull and restless; instead of adjusting his exercise or diet, the groom gives him horseballs and draughts. His feet grow so tender that he stumbles twice while trotting over fresh stones on the way down Lansdown into the city.

Diagnosis and Outcome

A farrier examines Black Beauty’s feet and diagnoses a severe case of thrush, noting their tenderness and the risk that the horse might have fallen. He associates the condition with foul stable litter that is not properly cleaned. The next day the feet are cleansed and treated with tow soaked in lotion. The farrier also orders the box to be cleaned daily and recommends bran mashes, some green food, and less corn until the feet recover.

With this treatment, Black Beauty’s spirits return and his feet become sound. Mr. Barry, disgusted at having been deceived twice by his grooms, decides to stop keeping a horse and hire one when needed; he keeps Black Beauty until his feet have healed, then sells him. Bath therefore marks both a recovery and a departure: the damage is addressed, but the owner’s loss of confidence ends Black Beauty’s stay. The episode distinguishes Mr. Barry’s good intentions from effective care, showing how the horse’s condition depends on what happens in the stable as much as on what the owner orders.