296 IRiMno IRecoUections an& Zwvt Stones 



it. ' The Doctor,' who was very bold, and an excep- 

 tionally good horse at timber, took off just right, and 

 landed clean over. The Squire's horse got too close 

 to or under it, as it were, and hit the top rail just 

 above his knees, shooting Mr. Chaplin on to the bank, 

 the horse landing on his back in the wide ditch. 

 He was rather angry, as he said his horse ought to 

 have jumped it, as mine did it without an effort ; but 

 he looked at the place afterwards, and said it was 

 much bigger than he thought. Naturally, many in- 

 cidents happened during the seven years that I rode 

 my good old horse, and this is but one of them. 



Only three persons rode ' The Doctor ' during the 

 time that he was in my possession. They were 

 Frank Goodall, who came down to visit the old 

 country whilst he was huntsman to the Royal Buck- 

 hounds, young Tom Jennings, the Newmarket 

 trainer, and Captain A. de Vere Smith. The two 

 latter succeeded in making him refuse, and he gave 

 Frank Goodall a real good cropper. I was not out 

 myself that day, but he made me laugh when he told 

 me the tale, which is worth repeating. The hounds 

 were not running, only casting about close to 

 Ridlington, and there was a blind dyke, a very small 

 one, and several of the horses put their feet into the 

 ditch and blundered, two or three of them falling. 



