176 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



while Squire Osbaldeston, on the other hand, con- 

 sidered him the best man across Leicestershire. It is, 

 however, easy to reconcile the two statements. It was 

 Christian's business to be in the first flight, and to be 

 seen in the first flight. To achieve this object he might 

 punish his horse, but there is, so far as I have been 

 able to discover, no record that he was ever cruel to a 

 horse. Besides, it would be absurd to think that a 

 man who had the reputation of being cruel to horses 

 would have been asked to ride for such men as Lord 

 Forester, Lord Middleton, Lord Alvanley, the Marquis 

 of Waterford, and Squire Osbaldeston. A further point 

 upon which I lay great stress is that a man seldom 

 develops bad habits, unless he has acquired them in 

 boyhood. A man who is cruel to his horse probably 

 started his hunting career by being cruel to his pony. 

 Now, Christian's tuition took place at Sir Horace Mann's 

 riding-school at Cottesmore, which was superintended 

 by Stevenson. His own version of his tuition is that 

 he left home in the morning, ostensibly for school, 

 played truant, and went to Stevenson, whom he per- 

 suaded to allow him to ride the horses at exercise. It 

 is most improbable to the last degree of improbability, 

 that the manager of a riding-school would allow a ten- 

 year-old urchin, as Christian then was, to ride valuable 

 horses if he evinced the slightest signs of crueltry. 



As a man Christian was abnormally strong in the 

 arm, and, accordmg to " The Druid," could " lift " a 

 horse over his fences better than any man in Leicester- 

 shire. Surely the science of " lifting " a horse over his 

 fences helps the horse and cannot be called cruelty I 



