306 Among Men and Horses. 



see how the ' fakement ' was done. As my wife had 

 been told that the young lady, when mounted, was tied 

 into her saddle, we both determined to satisfy our re- 

 spective curiosities. On the second night of our attend- 

 ance at the circus, having taken seats close to the exit 

 from the ring, we agreed to miss a part of the numero 

 preceding the entrance of the lady ; so, before it was 

 finished, we slipped out into the promenade which was 

 reserved for those who had tickets for the best seats, and 

 which gave access to the loose boxes and stalls for the per- 

 forming horses. Greatly to my wife's disappointment, the 

 lady was already mounted ; but the object of my search was 

 gained, for we saw M. Raux standing alongside the horse 

 and touching him up with a spur which he held in his hand. 

 Being restrained from going forward by the reins, and being 

 excited by the spur, the irritated animal could expend its 

 energy only by extravagantly lofty movements, which in a 

 few minutes were to win the plaudits of the public. When 

 the Russian clown, if I remember rightly, had gathered to- 

 gether his three performing cats, and had made his exit in 

 a chariot drawn by a pig, with a boar hound, who immensely 

 enjoyed the joke, acting as postilion, a wait of about three 

 minutes was given, before opening the barriers ; and then 

 with a flourish of trumpets the lady and the (spur) proud 

 horse made their entrance through two rows of drawn-up 

 attendants. I may mention that the horse before he began 

 his 'turn' was sweating profusely, and seemed fit to jump out 

 of his skin ; not from high spirits, but from the ' punishment ' 

 he had received. The act was all very nice from a showman's 

 point of view ; but to my mind there was nothing in it to 

 please a horseman. The movements performed might no 

 doubt be valuable exercises in the school training of a horse, 

 but at best were only a means and not an end. Baron de 

 Vaux, in his charming book Ecuyers et Ecuyeres, with evident 

 reference to James Fillis, says that Auguste Raux considere 

 les changements qua subis F equitation de cirque depuis Boucher 



