In some ways life at Birtwick Park was a lot like life at Farmer Grey's.
The people were kind, and I had plenty to eat and drink.
I was frequently ridden and hitched to the carriage.
But in other ways, things were different.
For one thing, I wasn't hitched beside my mother anymore.
My new partner was Ginger, the tall chestnut mare.
The first time we were hitched together, I couldn't help being worried.
What if we didn't get along?
What if she wouldn't pull her share of the weight?
As soon as we got started, I felt much better.
Ginger was an honest worker.
She did her full share of the work, even while going uphill.
In fact, we made a good team!
At first she didn't have much to say to me.
But after we'd been out together a few times, we started to become friends.
Merrylegs and I were friends from the first day I arrived.
He was so cheerful, friendly, and sociable that he made me feel right at home.
The squire's daughters, Jessie and Flora, came to visit him almost every day.
They loved to ride him around the orchard or take him driving.
There were also two other horses on the estate.
They lived in a different part of the stable, but sometimes we all grazed together in the orchard.
The first horse was called Justice.
He was a sturdy horse who was used for riding and driving.
The second was Sir Oliver, an elderly brown horse.
He was too old to work much anymore.
But he was so gentle and reliable that the squire sometimes used him to carry one of his daughters when the whole family rode together.
Sir Oliver was just as careful with the little girls as Merrylegs himself.
As I said, I got to know these two when all the horses were put out together in the old orchard.
Sadly, though, this didn't happen nearly often enough for me.
That was the biggest change of all in my life at Birtwick Park.
For my first four years, I got to run and play as much as I liked in my pleasant field.
But now I spent most of my time standing in my stall.
It was large and airy, but it was still boring compared to that big, grassy field.
I only got to go out in the orchard once a week or so.
I don't mean to complain. James, John, and the squire treated me very well.
But I was a young horse with a lot of energy and spirit.
I was used to being able to gallop around whenever I felt the urge.
Now I had to stay still and behave myself no matter how much energy I had.
It was very difficult sometimes!
John was usually the one to exercise me when the squire didn't need me himself.
One day when he saddled me up, I was feeling extra lively.
I hadn't had much exercise that week, and it was almost impossible to stay quiet.
I couldn't help prancing as soon as John mounted.
"Steady, my boy," he said with a laugh.
"Let's just get out of the stable yard, and then I'll let you trot, all right?"
I was almost bursting out of my skin.
But I stayed at a prancing walk as he rode me out of the yard.
Once we reached a quiet lane, he let me move into a brisk trot.
That was better!
I surged forward eagerly, and after a few miles, I felt much calmer.
"There you go, Black Beauty." John gave me a pat as he brought me back to a walk.
"I think you needed that."
He was right. I felt like a different horse, calm and content.
I was happy to walk along quietly as he turned us back toward home.
John kept talking to me as we rode. Or maybe he was talking to himself.
It's sometimes hard to tell with people.
Either way I pricked my ears to listen to his soothing voice.
"A spirited horse like you isn't meant to stand around without enough exercise," John said.
"Some people might see you prancing around and think you're a nervous horse.
But I know that all you need is to move.
After all that's what horses were made to do."
Having to stand in my stall so much made me enjoy my time in the orchard even more.
It was pleasant out there, with grass to nibble and shade from the old trees.
Usually all the horses were turned out together.
That gave me a chance to get to know the others better.
And I soon discovered that they had some amazing, though sad, stories to tell— especially Ginger.