Mr. Woodhouse, good man, always thinks of James and his horses. I do not think he believes he could consider them too much. I realize Mr. Woodhouse is somewhat overcautious (:D) but dear Fanny Price also considers Edmund’s mare and that it not be over exercised: “She began to think it rather hard upon the mare to have such double duty; if she were forgotten, the poor mare should be remembered” (MP, 7). To think of the horses seems to be a good and prudent thing to do. The Eltons have horses but they might not treat them correctly. At the ball:

Mrs. Elton turned to Mrs. Weston. "I have no doubt of its being our carriage with Miss Bates and Jane. Our coachman and horses are so extremely expeditious! I believe we drive faster than anybody." (38)

Is this just general bragging by Mrs. Elton or does it reveal that the Elton’s are not so careful or sensible of their horses. I think it is the later. As horses are expensive to maintain it shows the Eltons to be rather foolish as well as imprudent—perhaps they do not know the right way to care for and use horses. This brag reminds me of John Thorpe who also brags of the speed of his horse and is a terribly reckless driver (NA, 7). The lame horse that delays the expedition to Box Hill may be owned by the Eltons and its lameness the result of its owners and a coachman who care more for flashy speed than for the health of their horses:

It was now the middle of June, and the weather fine; and Mrs. Elton was growing impatient to name the day, and settle with Mr. Weston as to pigeon-pies and cold lamb, when a lame carriage-horse threw every thing into sad uncertainty. It might be weeks, it might be only a few days, before the horse were useable, but no preparations could be ventured on, and it was all melancholy stagnation. (42)