286 1Ri^iuc} IRccollcctions auD Xturf Stories 



at Doncaster Spring Meeting- the conditions of 

 which read " for horses that had been regularly- 

 hunted, those that had not won a steeplechase in 

 1874 or 1875 allowed 10 lb. ; any winner of ^100 

 to carry 14 lb. extra." I thought it would be a 

 pretty good hunter that could give my old horse 

 24 lb., and entered him, but considered it best to give 

 him a trial to see if he was in form. I had a horse 

 named ' Mountaineer,' and a little mare ' Double or 

 Quits,' that had won some races, so arranged to try 

 him to give them 7 lb, each. I got Frank Lotan to 

 ride 'The Doctor,' and two friends of mine to ride 

 the other two. I myself was riding a thoroughbred 

 horse called 'The Welsher,' by 'Chevalier d'ln- 

 dustrie,' and arranged to jump off and make a pace 

 for the first half-mile. This I did, but on looking 

 round I could not see the old horse, and asked 

 one of my friends what had become of him. He 

 said : 



" Oh, he stopped to kick before we had gone a 

 hundred yards." 



Sure enough, I found him in a dreadful temper, 

 kicking like fury, and he wouldn't be pacified, so I was 

 compelled to take him home. 'The Doctor' was upset 

 for two or three days afterwards. I rode him hunting 

 the next day, and he gave me a fall at a rather wide 



