HORSES AND STABLES 255 



mounted. One can think of men who are fair horse- 

 men, plucky riders, and most anxious to go in the 

 front rank, but who are invariably handicapped 

 because their steeds are quite unable to rise to 

 their masters' ambition. One can also think of the 

 man who is over-horsed, the light-weight who comes 

 out on an eighteen-stone horse, and looks like a tom- 

 tit on a round of beef, who is too small and weak to 

 hold his nag together, and not strong enough to pull 

 him up in a few strides. 



During the famous joint mastership of the Old 

 Berks by the late Earl of Craven and the late Mr. 

 Thomas Duffield there was a wealthy undergraduate 

 located at Oxford who rode about eight stone and 

 a half all told. He commissioned a big dealer to 

 send him half a dozen horses, and as nothing was said 

 about price he received a consignment of great weight- 

 carrying nags, all over sixteen hands high, big boned, 

 heavily built, and strong enough to carry a Daniel 

 Lambert. Their owner was not wanting in pluck — 

 indeed, he charged an iron gate in Middleton Park 

 when hunting with the Bicester, and got over with 

 a rattle — but he was weak of wrist, and these big 

 horses almost invariably took charge, and under such 

 circumstances it was perhaps injudicious of him to 

 tempt Providence by going to the "Old Berks"; but 

 he liked the country, and did not seem to mind the 

 abuse he came in for, and for several weeks caused 

 great amusement. Then there came a day when one 

 of the big horses ran away with him, as he was coming 

 on to join hounds. They had just found a fox but had 

 not got away with it when the big horse arrived in the 

 field. He had been pulling hard before, but now he 

 took the bit in his teeth, charged down on the crowd, 



