Some Equine Erratics 245 



mount, and lie would Ijuck, rear, and kick 

 like a mad horse with no provocation what- 

 ever. I once saw " Speedy " Payne — an 

 "erratic" himself — riding a wretch called 

 Cranberry, belonging to Tom Stevens of Chil- 

 ton, at Croydon. They ran the horse in his 

 quarter- sheet, in order to delude him into the 

 idea that he was only at exercise. He jumped 

 off with the rest of the field, and won in a 

 canter by half-a-dozen lengths. And who 

 amongst race-goers does not remember the 

 eccentric Peter — one of the best horses of the 

 century — stopping to kick in the middle of 

 a race at Ascot, and then winning ! It has 

 often been truly said that we only make 

 horses subservient to man by deceiving them, 

 and keeping from them the knowledge of their 

 own strength. I think that Peter very nearly 

 discovered the secret ! 



Horses that are troublesome, either to ride 

 or in the stable, may be roughly divided 

 into two classes — the erratic and the wicked ; 

 and between these tw^o there is a great 

 gulf fixed. It is generally true to say that 



