[00:01.60]Chapter 10.
[00:03.70]A London Cab Horse.
[00:07.30]My new home was nowhere near as nice as Earl's Hall.
[00:12.60]I was kept in a stall with a sloping floor that made my legs ache.
[00:19.30]I was also tied up and couldn't move around.
[00:26.60]The new work was dreadful.
[00:30.70]I was now a job horse, and this meant I was hired out to anyone who wanted me.
[00:40.50]It was not a happy time in my life.
[00:44.60]I was used to working for people who knew how to ride and drive a horse correctly.
[00:53.50]Now, most of the people who hired me out neither knew nor cared.
[01:01.30]My mouth was yanked around, and strain put on my back and legs.
[01:12.90]I was very unhappy, but I always did my best, and one day, I was rewarded.
[01:22.20]A man hired me to take him on a long journey.
[01:27.50]It was a pleasure to work for this man.
[01:31.50]He did not jab or pull on my mouth, and he talked to me kindly.
[01:39.70]The man hired me several times after that journey before buying me for a friend who wanted a good, safe horse.
[01:51.30]The friend was a kind man, but, unfortunately, he knew nothing about horses.
[02:01.60]He ordered the best food for me, but didn't think to check up on the groom he was paying to care for me.
[02:11.70]The groom was a thief, and instead of feeding the food to me, he was stealing it for his chickens and rabbits.
[02:24.30]It was a while before my owner found out, and by then, I had become ill from lack of good food.
[02:35.80]My owner hired a new groom, but this man was no good either.
[02:43.10]He was lazy and vain.
[02:48.60]Soon, my stable was dirty and smelled like a sewer.
[02:54.90]Then I got an infection in my feet.
[02:59.20]It was so painful, and it made me lame.
[03:05.80]My owner was very angry that he had been cheated for a second time.
[03:14.40]He decided not to keep a horse anymore, and once my feet were better, I was sold once again.
[03:25.30]I was taken to a horse fair, and it would have been fun had my future not depended on it.
[03:33.40]There was plenty to see, as the fair was packed with every kind of horse, from tiny ponies to huge shires.
[03:46.10]Some animals were fit and healthy, while others were old or ruined by hard work.
[03:55.00]It was very noisy, and people rushed here and there bargaining for a good deal.
[04:05.90]My broken knees put many people off buying me.
[04:11.90]Those that were interested prodded and poked me and looked at my teeth.
[04:19.80]Then a small, cheerful man with a soft voice came to see me.
[04:27.10]I liked him at once.
[04:30.50]He was not like the other people.
[04:35.00]He handled me gently, and I was very pleased when he bought me.
[04:43.10]My new owner called me Jack.
[04:48.40]He was a cabby called Jerry Barker.
[04:55.60]He lived in London with his wife Polly, their two children, Dolly and Harry, and a grand old horse called Captain.
[05:11.10]The Barkers didn't have much money, but I was very well cared for.
[05:18.80]On my first morning in my new home, Polly and Dolly fed me sliced apple and made such a fuss of me that I remembered those happy times when I'd been Black Beauty.
[05:37.00]Straight away, I was put to work pulling Jerry's taxi cab.
[05:45.10]Jerry was a kind driver, and he treated me well.
[05:51.50]But that first week was very hard.
[05:56.30]I wasn't used to the noise and bustle of the London streets, and I felt nervous and anxious.
[06:07.70]But as I learned to trust Jerry, my job became much easier.
[06:14.80]I worked hard for him, and the work was hard.
[06:20.60]Each night, Captain and I were stabled in an old-fashioned box with a sloping floor.
[06:29.40]Jerry never tied us.
[06:33.70]The stable was clean, and the food was good, so we were quite comfortable.
[06:42.00]Best of all, though, were the Sundays.
[06:47.40]This was our rest day.
[06:52.50]Then I did nothing but talk to Captain.
[06:57.40]He had been a war horse, fighting in the Crimean war, and had shocking tales to tell.
[07:09.50]"War sounds awful.
[07:13.70]Why were the men fighting?" I asked him.
[07:19.80]"I am only a horse," said Captain, "but I know this.
[07:28.50]It must have been over something terrible if it was right to kill so many men for it."