428 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



in the shape of inquiries. In the first place, 

 how does it happen that the same Horse in 

 one county shall be worth no more than 40/. : 

 take him into another, no one will think of 

 o"ffering: less than double the sum for him ? In 

 the stable of plain John So-and-so a nag shall 

 be a vulgar brute of little value : let a fashion- 

 able horse-dealer purchase liim, get 150/. out 

 of him, and let My Lord ride him, and he is 

 really a very splendid animal ! From the ex- 

 perience I have had, I feel quite confident that 

 a man not exceeding the weight I have before 

 alluded to in this letter can, if possessed of 

 judgment and the accomplishment of good 

 horsemanship, be as well carried in any 

 country for 60/. or 70/. as he can for 600/. 

 A few seasons ago I visited the stud of a 

 Sporting Nobleman, not one hundred miles 

 from the town of Leicester. This stud con- 

 sisted of nearly fifty hunters, the average price 

 of which was at least 120/. Now I will 

 fearlessly assert, that had any good judge 

 been allowed to select ten out of this number, 

 the remainder were not equal in point of ap- 

 pearance to run in our fast coaches ; nor would 

 they have fetched (had they been obliged to be 

 sold) more than coach-horse price. 



A few years ago, during the time that Mr. 

 Sadler was in business as a stable-keeper in 

 Oxford, he had amongst others, for hire, a 

 very fine well-bred five-year-old Horse that 

 had obtained some celebrity by going well on 

 several occasions with the Duke of Beaufort's 

 and M. Drake's hounds. A young Nobleman 

 from Christchurch, accompanied by his friend, 

 called at the stables with the intention of pur- 

 chasing him, and, after the usual viewings, 

 warranty, and so on, demanded the price of 

 the animal, which (Mr. Sadler being absent 

 was left with his foreman) was only 150/. 



His Grace shook his head, turned upon his 

 heel, and retreated. A few days after, on 

 Mr. S. meeting the Gentleman who had ac- 

 companied the Noble Lord to inspect the tit, 

 expressed his surprise at his not having pur- 

 chased him, declaring it as his opinion that 

 he would have suited, and was cheap at the 

 money asked for him. " Cheap !" exclaimed 

 the Gentleman ; " why yes, that was the very 

 thing that frightened him away. He was 

 quite sure the Horse could not be right for 

 the sum your servant demanded for him : at 

 300/. he would have jumped at him !" Such 

 are the effects of prejudice, want of judgment, 

 or the power of making use of it by many 

 people even when possessed of it; and to 

 shew how far fashion and a London stable of 

 high repute can affect the price of a Horse 

 utterly destitute of any tried superior ability, 

 I will relate one more anecdote, and with it 

 close these remarks. 



Two or three summers ago a Horse found 

 his way into the stable of a celebrated dealer 

 in Piccadilly, that, like a young lady of great 

 beauty and fortune on her first appearance at 

 Almack's, created quite a sensation amongst 

 a certain set known for their exclusive notions 

 respecting women and Horses. The West 

 End was in a state of excitement. My Lord 

 A. meets my Lord B. and inquires of him it 

 he has seen the splendid animal at A.'s Re- 

 pository? Four hundred poiwids had been 

 offered and refused by this spirited dealer in 

 hard bargains, who himself had given three 

 hundred for him. The fame of the nag spread 

 even beyond Bow Bells, and a brother chip 

 from the neighbourhood of Romford even 

 found his business stand still — nobody would 

 come to his yard till the wonder was disposed 

 of. Romford even caught the mania, and 



