94 THIRD TRIP TO RUSSIA 



he had ofiven for both ; he and I were well satisfied with the 



o 



deal. He asked me to pay him a visit at his large breeding- 

 stud, but unfortunately I never had time to accept his kind 

 invitation. I made the chestnut mare very nice and handy 

 in the school in about ten days' time, and then sold her to 

 Colonel Derfelden, the General's brother, for ^140. She 

 was subsequently sold to carry the Grand Duchess Vladimir 

 for, I believe, 250 guineas. 



While I was in Petersburg this time, I went to see the 

 grey gelding I had sold to the Grand Duke Nicholas, and 

 found him fat and in a very neglected condition. He was 

 shod with high calkins (!), which made him walk as if he was 

 on stilts. It appears that the Grand Duke's coachman did 

 not approve of wasting time in having horses exercised, and 

 Liipke, who was the Bereiter, being in love with one of the 

 girls of the circus, was more than content to let matters 

 slide. Liipke was a smart Gerrnano-Russian and had been in 

 Ciniselli's circus before he went to the Grand Duke. He 

 had not much idea of riding, though he had lots of pluck. 

 Acting on the advice of Sorel, who had been in the circus 

 with Liipke, I gave this Baltic Province boy a tenner to 

 stimulate him in looking after the grey gelding. He admired 

 so much the breeches I rode in, that I gave him a 

 fellow pair to them. Then he got so uneasy in his mind 

 over a scarf-pin, that I let him have it, lest he would do the 

 gelding an injury. My only consolation now is, that he got 

 the order of the boot from the Grand Duke, and that the 

 circus girl, whom he married, wears the metaphorical and 

 possibly my breeches. If I could only learn that she stuck 

 the pin into him, I'd be quite happy. The way nice horses 

 got messed about by incompetent people is sickening. 



Knowing that during my horse-breaking engagement I 

 would in all probability come under the orders of General 

 Strukof, who is head of the Remount Department, I called 



