

But for many of us, our first encounter with all the excitement and beauty of the horse is at 

 the circus, with its magic fairyland of red-nosed clowns and acrobats and tinsel ladies riding 

 bareback. The use of performing animals for entertainment is a controversial issue, but 

 nobody could suggest that these Danish Knabstrupps at Olympia are in any way browbeaten. 

 The circus in this country originates from a dashing sergeant-major of Dragoons, Philip 

 Astley. Tired of regimental drills and ceremonials, he took to bareback riding, found it paid, 

 and built up a circus that was patronised by kings and princes from all over Europe. In their 

 novels, both Dickens and Thackeray describe visits to Astley's which stood on a site in 

 Lambeth facing Westminster Bridge. 



