84 SHANDROVKA 



head round to the near side by the leading rein held in my 

 left hand, and then catching his tail with my ri^ht hand as he 

 'swung his hind - quarters to the off side. I intended after 

 that to make him waltz round with me so fast and so long 

 that the remainder of the gentling would only be an affair 

 of a few minutes ! This time it was a case of making up the 

 reckoning without consulting the host ; for the moment the 

 horse's head came round in response to the sharp jerk I gave 

 the leading rein, and his tail was grasped by the fingers of 

 my outstretched right hand, the chestnut pulled me on to 

 him by whisking his head round to the off side, and before I 

 could get clear he landed me a beautiful straight kick with 

 his near hind full on the left side of the throat between jaw- 

 bone and collar-bone. Never was a neater knock down 

 given ; for he lifted me clean oft* my legs and deposited me 

 on the flat of my back on the ground, as easily and as simply 

 as a mother would lift her baby in her arms and put it 

 to repose in its cradle. My Russian friends thought that the 

 show was ended by the death of the too confiding performer ; 

 but luckily as the chestnut delivered his blow, I saw it 

 coming, and with the instinct of an old boxer, I drew back 

 and escaped without even a scratch, though I had a slight 

 crick in my neck for some time after. The quite undeserved 

 kudos which I received for picking myself up and continuing 

 the show, as if the kick had been a previously arranged part 

 of the performance, made an excellent impression on the 

 spectators. Not receiving an encore for the tail business, I 

 tied up one of the horse's fore legs, fixed him up so that 

 he could not buck, and then got Dick to mount. When the 

 animal found that he could do nothing, he laid down and 

 Dick prudently slipped off on the other side. I then held 

 him on the ground with his head pulled round, so as 

 to prevent him from rising when he felt that way inclined, 

 which he did in about ten minutes. The desperate though 



