Some Equine Erratics 243 



without the old grey pony that lived in his 

 box. One horse which I constantly rode 

 declined to be mounted unless I wore a coat 

 over my silk jacket. Another (Lord Walde- 

 grave, by Orlando out of Marionette by 

 Stockwell) would never gallop a yard until 

 the last half-mile of his journey on the 

 training ground, and with his trainer up 

 would not gallop at all ! Mr. Bowes's 

 Chivalry so hated Perrin, that he w^ould have 

 savaged him at any moment he could have 

 got near him ; and only since beginning 

 this chapter, I have seen old Covertside, the 

 steeplechase horse, led down the course at 

 Harlow, to be mounted at the starting-post, 

 with his hood turned ris^ht over his head to 

 blindfold him. Many a horse cannot, or will 

 not, race until he has " put himself outside " 

 a good dose of whiskey ; and I think it was 

 Sea Song, winner of many short races, who 

 always endeavoured to lay down on the man 

 saddling him for a race. Truly, horses are 

 curious in their temperaments, and the man 

 to succeed with them must not only be 



