Prince Charles Kinsky 



Rowland Reynolds was a splendid ^horseman with very fine 

 hands, and having learnt the Austrian more military way of 

 sitting a horse properly, knew how to adapt his art to teaching 

 hunters the proper manners for their business without turning 

 them into unnaturally served up school horses. In fact, he 

 managed to find out a most useful and effective method, being 

 nothing more or less than a combination of school riding and 

 the English sporting style, which though more natural, is 

 perhaps a rougher way of riding. 



" A better, cleverer, or happier combination of both styles I 

 have never seen, consisting as it did in making the horse go on 

 its proper balance, without taking any of its freedom and, con- 

 sequently, any of its strength and power away from it. On 

 the contrary, I found over and over again in the course of my 

 hunting and racing career, that being able to keep a horse in 

 such a proper balance adapted to its general formation and con- 

 struction, made horses stay better than anything else, and also 

 saves the strength of the rider, who has then no need to fight 

 with his horse. In fact, this is, to my belief, the true meaning 

 of what is termed ' hands.' 



" This was not only what Reynolds possessed in the highest 

 degree himself, but what he could also teach to others if they 

 had the natural talent to understand what he was doing, and 

 why. He would tell his pupil to watch him closely, and imitate 

 him and his manner whilst riding, just as a monkey would. 



" I always thought I owed my Grand National to him in no 

 small measure, viz. by getting Zoedone to always go in her 

 proper balance, which she didn't do until I rode her regularly 

 in her work ; and by riding her in the same way on the race 

 day, I got her to go, so that I could pull her back, or regulate 

 her pace, without getting her head up, and to always keep in 

 her proper and natural balance. 



Z7^ 



