A London Cab Horse - Anna Sewell

A London Cab Horse is an extract from Black Beauty, written by Anna Sewell. In it, the author narrates from the point of view of the horse. Throughout the extract, the author focuses primarily on the pleasures the horse derives from the kindness of its owners, its fellow horses, and its experiences in the city as a cab horse.

The passage begins with the horse’s introduction of his new master and the latter’s family. She speaks briefly of the wife, children, and the other horse of the master; an old stallion who used to belong to an officer in the Crimean war. She goes on to describe the next morning and the process of readying and grooming her. In the afternoon she is put into the cab (tethered to the carriage), and sets off to the cabstand.

At the cabstand sundry other cab drivers gather around her, passing remarks. After some time, a senior cabbie driver by the name of Grey Grant comes up to her, and compliments her owner on his choice.  He is portrayed as a kindly trusting and optimistic person.

The narrator then proceeds to describe the frightening noise and bustle of the jostling city, but how her fears were abated owing to the masterful skill of her driver. She continues to compliment him for the rest of the story; speaking of how he never took to the whip but guided with gentle whispers, and how he gave them (the horses) sufficient food and water, with ample living space.

The primary theme in this piece would be a rather subliminal message of human-animal equality. The author’s choice to write from the perspective of the horse, rather than the perspective of a human, serves this purpose greatly. It is already established that Anna Sewell’s intent behind the writing of this book was to induce a kindness and sympathy in those that owned and reared horses.

Another aspect, from more of a historical basis as opposed to a literary one, is that most horse owners, cab drivers in particular, tended to mistreat their horses. In attempts to cut costs and maximize profits, many chose to keep their horses tethered outdoors, and never bothered to supply them with fresh water. The optimistic trajectory of the story line in the passage is indicative of the author’s mentality. By combining the aspect of the perfectly functioning give and take relationship between the horse and its owner, and the optimistic path of the story line, the writer seems to be appealing to the reader’s humanity; inducing the thought that properly caring for the horse would not be a lost investment, rather, the horse would be more cheerful and obedient if it were treated such.