ACTIVITY 8 AFTER READING Suggested answers:
1 By refusing to cross a bridge, which was in fact broken, Black Beauty had probably saved the lives of Mr Gordon and his groom. Mr Gordon showed his understanding of and love for horses, when he talked about an animal’s instinctive feeling for a situation, and awareness of danger.
2 Black Beauty was hot and sweating after the ride to and from the doctor’s, and should have been given a warm drink and had a cloth put over him. Joe had failed to do those things and John, who cared very deeply about horses, was angry with him.
3 Joe Green was offering to help the cart-driver lighten the load on the cart, to make it easier for the horses to pull it. This showed how much Joe cared for horses, and wanted to make their lives more comfortable.
4 Lady Gray was telling York to use a tighter bearing rein, as it was fashionable at the time for carriage horses to have their heads held high. This showed her complete lack of feeling for horses; she was only interested in fashion and the way she and her carriage horses looked.
5 The gentleman farmer was warning Mr Barry, his neighbour, that somebody must be stealing the oats he had provided for his horse, as Black Beauty was in surprisingly poor condition. This showed what a good judge of horses he was; he understood them much better than Mr Barry did.
6 The woman passer-by was telling the baker’s driver, Jakes, that Black Beauty couldn’t use all his strength when wearing a bearing rein. She was trying to persuade the driver that the bearing rein was going out of fashion because it was a cruel and harmful practice.
7 Nicholas Skinner wasn’t prepared to keep or look after a horse that couldn’t work. To him, horses were just part of his business, a means of making money.