Black Beauty

The bearing-rein is a consistent motif in the novel; it is a frequent topic of discussion amongst horses, and it is also debated by people who ride or drive horses. Many of the scenes where a character intervenes to help a horse that is being treated cruelly also feature a horse that is subject to a bearing-rein. The use of bearing-reins was common in the 19th century in both England and America, and involved a horse’s head being pulled artificially high and then held there by force, not allowing the horse to raise or lower its neck naturally. The device was fairly widely known to have a negative impact on the health of horses, as well as to cause them pain and impede their ability to carry out tasks. As a motif, the bearing-rein reveals how humans are short-sighted and selfish, and unwilling to think about the suffering they cause to others. The bearing-rein had no positive impact other than preserving a specific aesthetic, and it often created or exacerbated suffering. The motif also reveals how humans create conditions where animals are not encouraged to trust them, and then complain about the behavior of those animals, rather than taking responsibility for their own faults.