.An Old War Horse
Now it's time for a little side trip, this time for Captain's story. Captain, Beauty's new cab-pulling companion, was trained as a war horse, and his first owner was a cavalry officer in the Crimean War. Captain liked the training and loved his master, who treated him very well. Captain "[…] thought the life of an army horse was very pleasant, but when it came to being sent abroad, over the sea in a great ship, he almost changed his mind" (34.1).
Captain thought the journey in the ship was "dreadful" (34.2), and found life different and stressful once they arrived, but has good things to say about the way the cavalrymen treated their horses.
Beauty wonders if the fighting was awful, and Captain tells him that they liked being called out, and they were not afraid as long as their riders were in control. He says even though he saw many horses die, he was not afraid for himself: "My master's cheery voice […] made me feel as if he and I could not be killed" (34.6). Go team.