COACHING 



of his whip. He drew three parts of the coach, and cantered 

 for the first mile, and when he did settle down to his trot, his 

 snorting could be heard by the passengers, being as much as 

 to say, " I was not born to be a slave." In fact, as the pro- 

 prietor now observed, " he had been a fair plate horse in his 

 time, but his temper was always queer." 



' After the first shock was over, the Conservative of the 

 eighteenth century felt comfortable. The pace was consider- 

 ably slower than it had been over the last stage, but he was 

 unconscious of the reason for its being diminished. It was 

 to accommodate the queer temper of the race-horse,^ who, if 

 he had not been humoured at starting, would never have 

 settled down to his trot, but have ruffled all the rest of the 

 team. He was also surprised, if not pleased, at the quick rate 

 at which they were ascending hills which, in his time, he should 

 have been asked by the coachman to have walked up — but his 

 pleasure was short-lived ; the third hill they descended pro- 

 duced a return of his agony. This was what is termed on the 

 road a long fall of ground, and the coach rather pressed upon 

 the horses. The temper of the race-horse became exhausted ; 

 breaking into a canter, he was of little use as a wheeler, and 

 there was then nothing for it but a gallop. The leaders onlv 

 wanted the signal ; and the point of the thong being thrown 

 lightly over their backs, they were off like an arrow out of a 

 bow : but the rocking of the coach was awful, and more 

 particularly so to the passengers on the roof. Nevertheless, 

 she was not in danger : the master-hand of the artist kept her 

 in a direct line ; and meeting the opposing ground, she steadied, 

 and all was right. The newly-awakened gentleman, however, 

 begins to grumble again. " Pray, my good sir," says he 

 anxiously, " do use your authority over your coachman, and 

 insist upon his putting the drag-chain on the wheel when 



' It was not unusual for retired race-horses to end their days ' on the road.' A notable 

 instance is that of Mendoza by Javelin. Mendoza won eight races at Newmarket in his 

 three seasons on the turf, 1791-2-3 ; then the Duke of Leeds bought him as a hunter ; 

 and after a few seasons with hounds he made one of a team in the Catterick and Greta 

 Bridge mail-coach. Mendoza was still at work in 1807, but had become blind. 



135 



