220 MEMORIES OF THE SHIRES 



picked in the next fence, however distant it was, 

 and nothing annoyed him more than if circum- 

 stances obhged you to change your mind. The 

 only falls he ever gave me were on those occasions 

 when I was obliged to pull away from the place and 

 seek another. Yes ! I had forgotten he gave me a 

 fall jumping some timber out of the grass roadway 

 under Borrough Hill. It was rather a drop and I 

 had steadied him, when just as he was taking off, 

 a man, who should have known better, jumped 

 alongside of me, touched my horse, and he rolled 

 over into the ditch. The ditch happened to have 

 a very sharp bank, and the horse was on his 

 back with the whole of his weight resting on my 

 knee. It was an absurd position, but very painful, 

 and the man who was the cause of it never turned 

 his head to see if I was free. 



Luckily for me a lady riding by noticed my 

 predicament, and went for assistance. There was 

 a small ladder close at hand, which, being used as a 

 lever under the horse's quarters, speedily set me 

 free. Mr. " Cis " Howard, an occasional visitor 

 to Melton, was the good Samaritan who came to my 

 assistance. 



That black horse I called Liberty, from some 

 connection with his reputed breeding, which was 

 Irish, as was also his education, and he was a made 

 hunter when I bought him. I usually rode him 

 with the Quorn, and he seldom missed his two days 

 a week. 



Another very exceptional horse was one I 

 bought from Mr. Edmund Leatham called " Brig- 

 adier," by " Old Victor." He had earned a big 

 reputation in the show ring under the ownership 



