208 REMINISCENCES OF 



CHAPTER IX. 



FIRST SCOTTISH TOURNAMENT. 



1886. — I had been trying for a long time to 

 devise some means of improving the horsemanship of 

 the regiment, and when at the Islington Tournament 

 that spring it occurred to me to try and form a 

 musical ride. On meeting Major Tully (secretary 

 of the Islington Tournament) I told him my inten- 

 tion. To this he replied, "It's perfectly impossible ; 

 you will never get any troops together for a sufficient 

 amount of practice ". I said, " You will see ". I then 

 applied to my son, who was in the Blues at Knights- 

 bridge, for assistance. Mr. Godfrey, bandmaster, 

 lent me the music ; Mr. Weir, riding-master, sent a 

 programme of a simple ride, and gave me much 

 valuable advice. He recommended me to form two 

 rides, one cantering and one trotting, as some canter 

 more easily than others, and it is less for the man to 

 remember. That year the 2nd Life Guards per- 

 formed the ride at the tournament. I watched the 

 movements and made notes. Mr. Burt, riding- 

 master of the 2nd, kindly allowed me to be present 

 at a ride in the riding-school at Regent's Park bar- 

 racks, and explained it carefully to me. The ride of 

 the 2nd Life Guards was led by Corporal Goodall 



