Gentlemen Riders 



most noted horsewomen in Hungary — it almost goes without 

 saying that they have left no stone unturned to foster the 

 hereditary passion for sport in their children. 



His own account of his riding education and subsequent 

 career is so admirably described by Prince Charles, in a letter 

 to ourselves, that we feel we cannot do better than reproduce 

 it here. 



" My father and the whole of my family — in fact all the 

 Kinskys, even in the olden times, have always been known as the 

 keenest of sportsmen, and in particular, lovers of horseflesh and 

 all connected with it — were very devoted to riding and hunting, 

 and so was my mother — a very fine rider with beautiful hands, 

 and destitute of fear. Accordingly, my elder brother, Count 

 Rudolf, and I were broken in to riding in very early youth ; 

 he being seven years old and myself six when we first began 

 in earnest. 



" My pony was a beautiful little Welshman, built like an ideal 

 hunter. Of course at the time I thought that the like of him 

 had never existed, and I am still of the same opinion. I have 

 never loved any animal, or, if it comes to that, very few human 

 beings, more than that dear little chap. He lived up to the 

 age of twenty-four, running loose in the park in his old age. 



" My three brothers and four sisters all rode well, and like 

 myself, were passionately fond of it. Count Rudolf hunted 

 a great deal in England, and is well known at Melton, whilst 

 my younger brother Ferdinand is now at the head of the 

 Imperial stables. 



" My father's master of the horse was an Englishman named 

 Rowland Reynolds, a brother of the celebrated Miss Reynolds, 

 the original of Sir Edwin Landseer's well-known picture 

 ' The Pretty Horsebreaker/ and also of Jack Reynolds, who 

 rode as a gentleman rider in the late sixties and early seventies. 



370 



