Use of the bearing rein for horses was abolished
The work was "Black Beauty", originally directed at those who worked with horses but now regarded as one of the top ten best selling novels for children. Sewell said "a special aim was to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses", and it is said to have had noticeable effect on reducing cruelty or carelessness - of which use of the bearing rein was one example - towards horses in all areas of Victorian life. It was her only novel.
