14 EARLY WORKS 



Fortunately for us these talented people did 

 not spend most of their time company-promoting, 

 or driving motor-cars at break-neck speed, or 

 shattering their nerves by living at such high 

 pressure as many of us do, because competition 

 gives us no alternative. They appear to have 

 done things very thoroughly, and to have en- 

 joyed their leisure moments — and here lies the 

 charm of their writings. They wrote for pleasure 

 and not for gain, with a thorough grip of their 

 subject, and we feel, as we read, that their treatises 

 were labours of love, penned with a cultured sense 

 of humour. Their satire was elegant and rarely 

 descended into vulgarity. In every passage the 

 modern horsey man discerns that these ancient 

 writers had light " hands," and were happy when 

 riding hot, well-bred horses, who were afterwards 

 dressed over by slaves harshly disciplined in stable 

 duties. 



But we have touched upon the best side of 

 the early author's character. He had a dark 

 side — cruel, suspicious, even merciless towards 

 horse, enemy, slave, and any person or creature 

 that stood in his way. His culture was too often 

 that of a pagan, his elegance was only what 

 might have been expected from an educated 

 slave-owner. Yet, despite his virtues and vices, 

 those who study equine literature are still heavily 

 indebted to him. 



