282 Among Men and Horses. 



for us as manager. As a large number of Boers had come in 

 from the country to the Agricultural Show, which was being 

 held at that time, I determined to give a couple of public 

 performances, as well as to hold a class. The first one came 

 off in the Berea Park, which is an enclosed ground, and had 

 I not been particularly thick in the skull, my tour would have 

 abruptly ended on that day. A very vicious horse which I 

 was handling in the ring, struck me with one of his fore feet 

 so hard on the top of the head that I reeled back from the 

 force of the blow. My wife seeing this, rushed into the ring 

 and begged me to stop the performance. Though very dizzy, 

 I had just enough sense left to feel bitterly annoyed that the 

 animal should have got the better of me for the time being ; 

 so I told her I was all right, and then hearing the shouts of 

 the Boers who were cheering the horse which was defeating 

 the ' Redneck,' I took off my hat and told them that I was an 

 Irishman, and that my wife would ride the horse in an hour. 

 I must have looked a funny object, speechifying with my hat 

 in my hand and the blood streaming down my face on to my 

 clothes. When the show was over, one of my Dutch friends 

 proudly remarked, that none of the Dutch ladies who saw 

 the accident, fainted, turned pale, went away, or showed the 

 slightest concern, as Englishwomen would have done, had 

 they been present. But to return to the description of the 

 breaking, I need only say that I felt so weak from the effects 

 of the concussion and from loss of blood, that I could get no 

 further on with it, than to make the horse quiet to be saddled 

 and mounted. Although I knew he would buck if he was 

 made to go on, I dared not delay. A glance at my wife in- 

 formed me that she was ready to pull the show out of the 

 metaphorical fire which was waiting to consume it. On 

 seeing my signal, she walked into the ring, and in the next 

 moment was in the side saddle. As soon as she shortened 

 the reins and touched the horse to make him go on, he ' went 

 to market ' (as Australians say) in a style I have seldom seen 

 equalled, and at every buck he gave, he uttered a loud grunt 



