T^ 



4 ANIMAL PAINTERS 



Stud groom or trainer to the then Duke of Beaufort. 

 This account of his earher career, however, must not 

 be accepted, as the present Duke has taken consider- 

 able trouble in searchinor the Badminton records 

 for mention of the name, and failing to find any 

 reference to it, doubts the authenticity of the state- 

 ment quoted. The artist's mastery of hunting tech- 

 nique in every minutest detail possibly gave rise to 

 the conjecture that he owed his knowledge to 

 stable work. The only discoverable reference to 

 the pursuits of his early manhood is contained in 

 the Introduction to the Beauties and Defects in 

 the Figure of the Horse Comparatively Delineated, 

 which was published when the artist was thirty-twu 

 years of age. Here we read 



" The author flatters himself that his work will be found 

 useful ; and as his remarks are the result of the most atten- 

 tive observation during the many years entirely devoted to 

 the pleasures of the field, he trusts that the general principles 

 which he has laid down, as well with respect to power, 

 strength, and the various points of action, as to the physiog- 

 nomical character and figure of the horse will be found clearly 

 elucidated in the following series." 



This seems to controvert pointedly the assertion 

 that the artist had ever been employed as stud 

 groom or trainer. It is at least improbable that 

 a man whose knowledge of horseflesh had been 

 acquired in a menial capacity would thus refer to 

 years devoted to " the pleasures of the field." 



