ROUGH CUSTOMERS. 149 



not a square inch of his body that has not been 

 black and blue a hundred times. He is^ as you 

 see now, on a very fine grey entire horse, who, from 

 being uncommonly handsome and uncommonly 

 good, has been in the hands of every man in the 

 hunt, with all of whom, not only in fencing but 

 in galloping, he has come down headlong, in 

 spite of curbs, gags, chifFneys, and all sorts of 

 bits. Frank has now had him more than a month, 

 rides him in a plain snaffle held quite loose ; when 



he makes a blunder, Frank gives him a 



and a double thonger over the ears, and away 

 they sail again ; he has not as yet had a fall from 

 him, and swears he is the safest horse in the world 

 if people would not be afraid of him. This, by the 

 by, I have generally found, that the more freedom 

 we give an unsafe goer, the safer will be his 

 action. What will be the result of Frank's riding 

 the grey I know not, but such is the horse and 

 such the man. I have known, and so have many, 



some other hard bitten d s of the same sort. 



George Gosden one of his Majesty's Yeomen 

 Prickers, was one; and, of a later date, poor Sollo- 

 way, the steeple-chase rider, was another. 



" You see," said I, " another well-known cha- 

 racter in this hunt, on the good-looking bay horse. 

 His bridle, saddle, boots, breeches, cravat, all 

 about him could not be in better taste if he was 

 at a meet at Kirby Gate, yet he sports a simple 



L 3 



