GOOD HORSE'S BAD MOMENTS 



lucky for me — so the doctor told me — that I did keep 

 quiet until I was able to go back to London on the 

 Sunday and creep between the blankets at the Cecil 

 for another day or two. When I was about and was 

 riding as usual of course I heard all the talk over 

 again about what I should have done if I had been 

 fit — and so on and so on. 



It appears that Huggins had bought Knight of the 

 Thistle for Appleby as a type of an old-fashioned 

 high-class English race-horse. It was Huggins' own 

 judgment, and in this instance he was absolutely 

 correct, for on his day this animal was one of the best 

 I ever rode. He behaved badly at the post but he 

 was as game as he could be. On his day of days he 

 could have beaten anything, classic or otherwise, and 

 such he proved when I won the Jubilee on him some 

 weeks later from Greenan and Lord Edward II., 

 who had finished behind him in the Lincolnshire. Mr 

 Arthur Coventry had all sorts of trouble with him 

 at the post. Even on that day he had certain peculi- 

 arities, for he was getting a bit " stalliony " — I will 

 not say savage. 



Both he and Santoi, who will be mentioned later, 

 had their very bad moments and it was always the 

 most interesting part of my work to try and find out 

 what was really the matter with them. No one ever 

 seems to have gauged the exact disposition of a horse, 

 but I never ceased trying to " know " animals which 

 had bad characters. They are really blamed some- 

 times for " cussedness " when it is not altogether their 

 own fault. It may be stomach trouble, their teeth, 

 or their feet. From the many thousands of horses I 

 have ridden, my own personal impression is that there 

 is no trouble without a cause. I sometimes begin to 

 think that the real cause may be too much in-breeding, 



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