350 " MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE ! " 



The business was evolved partly by good fortune no 

 doubt but mainly from the long experience often 

 dearly bought which I have had of the British Thorough- 

 bred and all that concerns him. It seems strange that 

 where 140,000 of capital did not suffice I should have 

 made good out of nothing, but such is the plain truth, 

 though it is only right to acknowledge the very great help 

 I have received throughout from those who have worked 

 with me both at Cobham and at the London office. No 

 one has any idea until they try it what an intricate and 

 difficult job the export of horses is, and what a vast 

 number of arguable points may be found in a matter 

 of horse insurance. No one man could do all these 

 things. 



In the spring of 1918 we had valuable horses and mares 

 to ship to Russia for the then Government and other 

 leading owners. This was done and the animals delivered 

 just as the Revolution was commencing. Such operations 

 are no child's play. Moreover, we managed to ship the 

 stallion, Night Hawk, to New South Wales in the autumn 

 of 1918, when it was generally accepted that there was 

 not room on board any ship for a horse to that destination. 

 These and countless other difficult tasks occur in the 

 course of such a business, and they can only be overcome 

 by patience, hard work and practical knowledge of all the 

 ropes and every detail. 



And now while turning into the last lap I must take the 

 opportunity to claim that I have proved what I undertook 

 to prove in the Prologue of this book, and that if I have 

 far from justified my own life, I have at any rate justified 

 horse-breeding, racing and the British Thoroughbred. 

 The most virulent Puritan will fail to find a flaw in the 

 argument, for in my dark days, when education of the 

 very best as it then was could not save me, my always 

 familiar friend the British Thoroughbred did so, and that, 

 too, effectually. It may seem a strange story, but it is 

 an absolutely true one, and though we none of us like to 

 divert what were our hobbies and pleasures into a serious 



