Cats And Horses

From time immemorial cats have been kept in stables, and when this is

the case there is generally a friendly feeling between one or other of

the horses and the cat or cats. Such I have known with the heavy,

ponderous cart-horse and his feline companion; such was the case in my

stable, and so in many others. Cats are as a rule fond of horses, and

the feeling is generally reciprocated. Several of our "race winners"

have ad their favourites at home, among others the well-known

"Foxhall." "Many famous horses have had their stable cats, and the

great, amiable Foxhall has adopted a couple of kittens, if it would not

be more correct to say that they have adopted him. A pretty little white

and a tabby, own brothers, live in Foxhall's box, and when Hatcher, his

attendant, has rubbed him over, and put on his clothing, he takes up the

kittens from the corner of the box where they have been waiting, and

gently throws them on Foxhall's back. They are quite accustomed to the

process, and, catching hold, soon settle down and curl themselves up

into little fluffy balls, much to their own satisfaction and to the good

horse's likewise, to judge from the way in which he turns and watches

the operation."



In Lawrence's "History of the Horse," it is stated that the celebrated

Arabian stallion, Godolphin, and a black cat were for many years the

warmest friends. When the horse died, in 1753, the cat sat upon his

carcase till it was put under ground, and then, crawling slowly and

reluctantly away, was never seen again till her dead body was found in a

hay-loft. Stubbs painted the portraits of the Arabian and the cat. There

was a hunter in the King's stables at Windsor, to which a cat was so

attached, that whenever he was in the stable the creature would never

leave her usual seat on the horse's back, and the horse was so well

pleased with the attention that, to accommodate his friend, he slept, as

horses will sometimes do, standing.