THE CAREER OF ORMONDE 279 



For many weeks before Ormonde left Eaton 

 he had walking exercise for five or six hours 

 every day in order to get him thoroughly fit for 

 the voyage to Buenos Aires. He was thirty- 

 one days on the water, but stepped ashore 

 perfectly fresh, and directly he landed neighed 

 loudly, as much as to say, " Here I am." 



Many people blamed the Duke of West- 

 minster for allowing Ormonde to leave England. 

 His Grace was actuated chiefly by one motive. 

 There is abundance of evidence proving that 

 roaring is an hereditary complaint, though it is 

 doubtless true enough that a proportion of the 

 progeny of a horse afflicted with the disease 

 escape the taint. The Duke of Westminster 

 realised that if he kept Ormonde in England 

 many high-class mares would be sent to him, 

 and he was reluctant to have the accusation 

 made that Ormonde was responsible for spreading 

 in the best thoroughbred circles the complaint 

 with which he himself was cursed. 



Ormonde remained in the Argentine until 

 May 1893, so that he would, I suppose, have 

 three seasons at the stud south of the Line. None 

 of his native-bred stock had run at Buenos Aires 

 when he returned to England, en route to California. 

 When writing about St. Blaise, I mentioned that 

 in the autumn of 1892 Mr. Charles Reed, the 

 owner of a big stud in the United States, went to 

 the Argentine determined to buy Ormonde, cost 



