40 Old Cheddar Tops. 



place unsurpassed. Almost any of the horsemen 

 of to-day's Modern Athens would select this mare 

 in preference to Patroclus. And yet, a four-in- 

 hand of her type, as she now is, Tantivy coach 

 thrown in for make-weight, are not worth one 

 Patroclus for real saddle-work, because she has 

 no conception of moderate gaits. She is bound 

 to go twelve miles an hour if you let her out of a 

 walk, or fret at the restraint. I can ride Patroclus 

 twenty-five miles without fatigue. If I ride the 

 mare ten miles, I come in tired, drenched with 

 heat, and probably with my temper somewhat 

 ruffled, while she has fretted to a lather more 

 than once, and we have both been so hot during 

 the entire ride that, if the day is raw, it has been 

 dangerous to ease into a walk. If I ride Patro- 

 clus over the same ground in the same time, we 

 shall both come in fresh as a daisy, dry, and each 

 well-pleased with the other. While this mare can 

 gallop fast and is easy and kind, a man must 

 work his passage to make her canter a six mile 

 gait. She has no more ambition than Patroclus, 

 but she does not curb it to the will of her rider. 

 With a knowledge of all which, however, most of 

 our young swells would select the mare for simple 

 road riding, because she looks so like a thorough- 

 bred hunter, and rather suggests the impression 

 that they habitually ride to hounds. As well 

 saunter in the park in a pink coat and with " tops 

 carefully dressed to the color of Old Cheddar." 



