126 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



his private tutor ; and so highly did the squire of 

 Tedworth think of his riding and judgment, that he 

 was often heard to say he would rather trust a young 

 horse to Rowden than any man he knew. 



^I shall never forget his coming down a steep 

 plantation on a violent bay horse that had broken 

 away with him, crying, " Take ca-are, ge-entlemen, 

 take ca-are ; I don't know whe-ere I am coming " (he 

 had a little hitch in his speech), as his horse bounded 

 through and over the young trees. "No," said a 

 farmer, " I don't much think you do, for it appears 

 to me you be out a bird's-nesting." ' 



On another occasion, when his horse reared up 

 bolt on end, and there stood, he coolly remarked, ' I 

 suppose he will come down again once to-day.' 



Orator Hunt was a bold rider, and, like Thomas 

 Assheton Smith, well able to use his fists. Mr. 

 Warde's hounds were once drawing South Grove, 

 when some remark of Mr, Hunt's provoked a sneer 

 from Tom Smith. Tierce words ensued on both 

 sides, and they were in the very act of dismounting 

 to settle it when fortunately a fox was halloed away, 

 an attraction which neither could resist. ' I always 

 regretted this interruption,' said an eye-witness of 

 the scene, ' for depend upon it this fight would have 

 been well worth seeing, although Hunt had the 

 advantage in weight and height ; but for all that,' 

 he added, ' I would have backed the squire.' 



Every hunt has its finish ; so has the career of 



