viii Preface. 



life. As I have often found mistakes to be more 

 enlightening than inspiration, I relate them both, 

 heedless of the fact that instead of posing as a 

 prophet, I ' give myself away ' as one who not long 

 ago was just as ignorant about my own pet study, 

 as anyone else. I believe that the Public and the 

 Press are inclined to receive reminiscences with a 

 lenient and forgiving spirit, as a sort of dying speech 

 by those whose active life is finished. I beg, how- 

 ever, to disclaim such a concession ; for my wife and 

 1 look forward to having many more adventures in 

 foreign lands among men and horses. The sad part 

 of the thing is that by the time one acquires a large 

 amount of insight into any difficult subject, one is too 

 old to put it into practice. Happily, my stock of 

 equine lore is far from being complete. 



M. H. HAYES. 



Woodbine Cottage, 

 Melton Mowbray, \st June 1894. 



