Kindness in Black Beauty

In my post about Seeing Through the Fence, I emphasized that focusing on empathy and kindness is a much more effective way to teach people about animal rights than using fear and guilt. As I read Black Beauty, I noticed similar elements in the upbringing of the horses.

Each short chapter in Black Beauty has a sort of lesson to be learned- mostly having to do with kindness and sympathy. The book contrasts the behavior of different horses and links their behavior to the personalities and training methods of their Masters. The story is very simple- kindness is far superior to force or fear because it instills trust and respect. When teaching and behaving with kindness and love, humans and other animals learn to be peaceful, kind, and loving.


Black Beauty's first trainer was "a good, kind man...[giving the horses] good food, good lodging, and kind words; he spoke as kindly to...[them] as he did to his little children" (Sewell, 4). His second master, Squire Gordon, was also very kind, and so Black Beauty grew up "gentle and good, and never learn[ed] bad ways" (Sewell, 4). When Ginger was broken in however, she was shown only force. Her trainer Samson "was a strong, tall, bold man...there was no gentleness in him..but only hardness, a hard voice, a hard eye, a hard hand" (Sewell 26). When he worked her so hard that she felt miserable, the two began to fight until Ginger kicked him off of her. It wasn't until Mr. Ryder came out, with gentleness and kindness, that Ginger was able to be calmed.



I really like the fact that Black Beauty is written from the perspective of the horse. Even though I really care about animals, it is still sometimes hard for me to put myself in their place. Black Beauty describes how uncomfortable the bit is; "a great cold piece of steel as thick as a man's finger to be pushed into one's mouth, between one's teeth and over one's tongue, with the ends coming out at the corner of your mouth, and held fast there by straps over your head, under your throat, round your nose, and under your chin..."(Sewell 11). I really took notice of this passage; when I see these things in real life, I don't assume they're comfortable, but I also don't really think about how uncomfortable they are for the animals that wear them. Although it doesn't really compare, I was reminded of the collars that I put on my cats and dogs at home. I never really thought before if they liked having a tight collar around their neck with a bell constantly jingling below their head.. it was just something they had to wear.
Although Black Beauty seems like it was written for a younger audience, I feel that there important things that can be learned from the story. As the more powerful species, we are obligated to treat other beings with respect. Refraining from doing so simply because it is easier not to, or because it is out of our way, or even (in my opinion) because we care about the way our food tastes more than we care about the wellbeing of others, is wrong. As I read about the kindness to animals in Black Beauty, I was reminded of farm sanctuary, where I am going to intern within the next year. Farm Sanctuary is a farm where people rescue animals that have been mistreated by factory farms and sometimes even dumped alive in piles of dead animals. The picture to the right shows a pig that was rescued from slaughter, and taken to farm sanctuary. The program supports better farming practices and is open to visitors to come meet farm animals, so that they can understand how they really act, and to learn that they are just like the animals they keep as pets. In Chapter 13, John Manly gives a speech to the schoolboys about cruelty and kindness. He says it is "hard hearted and cowardly... to hurt the weak and the helpless; ... and people [who are] kind to man and beast" are a mark of God's love (Sewell, 52).