Highlighting Animal Cruelty in Black Beauty

It is interesting how animal cruelty is discussed in the different sections of this novel. The first section showed us how horses endured cruelty in the most common every day ways. The second section, however, shows us the more specific examples of how cruelty can exist by simply owning a horse.



The example of the Lady at Earlshall shows the ridiculous ways in which the desire to impress through fashion is ridiculous. The Lady's comment to York stating that "you must put those horses' heads higher; they are not fit to be seen" shows her agreement with animal cruelty for the sake of appearing classy and elegant (Ch22 pg 88). Medically, this is horrible treatment for the horse's hocks, stifles, and back. If these people saw horses as an investment or even a means of transportation, wouldn't you want to protect that investment? The problem is when it comes to the upper class in this time period, money was not an issue and there would always be another horse. This is a sad reflection on our species as a whole. We do not have the right to destroy animals for fashion.



This second half of the novel seems to magnify that the people of the upper class were the worst humanitarians in England during the Victorian period. We would like to have some hope in the Earl since he did not support the bearing reins when Black Beauty and Ginger first arrived. However, his comment that "the mare shall have a twelve-month's run, and we will See what that will do for her; but the black one,he must be sold; tis a great pity, but I could not have knees like these in my stables" (Ch27 pg109). I was shocked to read this because I thought we had finally met someone of the upper class with some kind of sympathy towards animals. The Earl, however, must be completely heartless to sell a horse that has gone above and beyond what he was asked to do, because of his appearance. Beauty's knees did not endure any tendon damage and would thus not affect his ability to be ridden or pull a cart. It is the need to have fashionable horses that determined his fate.



I am proud to say that I am not a part of that. A horse with the temper and talent such as Beauty and Ginger does not go overlooked in a show horse. They are given the upmost medical, physical, and mental care possible so that they can perform at their best ability possible.