Once there was a horse called Louisa. She lived in a country town in the south of France. She was very good and gentle, and she loved her master dearly. She also loved all pretty things. It made her very sad that her master was so poor that he could not afford to paint her cart or give her pretty bridles.
Her master made his living by collecting and selling all the rubbish of the little town. Their cart was old and falling to bits, and the bridle was a patchwork of old straps and rope.
How she did long to be as grand as the other horses!