68 MEMORIES OF MEN AND HORSES 



be to ride, for he carries his head exactly right and 

 handles so delicately that a child might control him 

 with a pack thread ! 



"We must see more of Common, however for the 

 moment we are exercised in noting the others. The 

 peerless two-year-olds, Orme and La Fleche, show 

 superabundance of courage and vigour in their work. 

 Not yet do they know what it is to be really hard 

 pressed in a race possibly they never may, unless 

 they meet one another, when George Barrett thinks 

 the filly might win, but I hardly think John Porter 

 would entertain such an opinion. In point of fact, not 

 a living soul could really predict with any confidence 

 the result of such a race. . . . 



" Let us get forward to where they are all now walking 

 round, standing out big and prominent against the 

 grey morning sky. Yes, here is Common, and it 

 needs no second glance to satisfy one that he is in 

 the brightest bloom of health. A later and more 

 careful inspection in his box was still more convincing. 

 Common, as everyone knows, is a horse of very com- 

 manding stature, but it is a mistake to speak of him 

 as lacking in muscular development. Common, unless 

 I am much mistaken, will never perform the mysterious 

 feat of what is called 'letting down.' Nine times out 

 of ten, by the way, when a horse is said to have 'let 

 down' it is simply the result of his having been 'let 

 up' to use an Americanism. In other words, he is 

 carrying more flesh. But Common will never be a 

 heavy-muscled horse. His power is of the sinewy 

 order, and we shall never, so long as he is in training, 

 see him beautifully turned and looking like a show 

 horse. Muscle per se may be a grave disadvantage to 



