226 EACECOUBSE AND COVERT SIDE. 



" Not that one, stupid ! Have not I just 

 done it ? Wliat are you thinking about to-day ! " 

 his friend says in a good-humoured tone of pre- 

 tended reproach as we enter ; and so Foxhall 

 dutifully presents his other foot. 



Fancy calling a three-year-old that has carried 

 nine stone to victory up the Cambridgeshire hill 

 " stupid ! " But in this case familiarity has 

 not by any means bred contempt, but rather 

 confidence, esteem, and affection. 



I look at the good horse in admiration. 

 What shoulders ! what quarters ! what depth 

 through the heart ! Perhaps his enormous 

 power behind is his most notable characteristic, 

 but when one glances at his shoulders again one 

 doubts whether it is so. It is not a pretty Httle 

 head ; but the kind, mild, generous eye gives it 

 character and individuality. The neck, more- 

 over, is far from being the graceful arched type 

 that ladies admire. He is, indeed, distinctly 

 ewe-necked, but one gradually falls in love with 

 the horse, and his neck appears to suit him. 

 The rich bay, so delightfully contrasted with his 

 black points, seems just precisely the right 

 colour for him. I gaze and admire. 



" Isn't he the least bit light below the 

 knee?" 



*' Perhaps a little ; but handle him. He's as 



