36 Silk and Scarlet, 



a dodge I haven't tried. I never used these drugs 

 unless they were very bad ; handling them's the 

 thing. 



The first Break- The first I ever got a-back of, to break, 

 ing Effort. was a three-year old of Sir Gilbert's. I'd 

 be nigh sixteen then, somewhere about ; she'd let no 

 one but an old groom come nigh her in the stall, or 

 anywhere else. He was lunging her one day in the 

 park, when Sir Gilbert, he says, "■ Let Dick get on her, 

 and have a try!' Them words of his was the making 

 of me. A nice job we had ; then they straps up her 

 near fore leg ; she was as bad as ever ; then they on 

 with the bluffs, and gives me a leg up. I fixes myself 

 well, and I says, " Let her leg down ;" she didn't 

 move; then I off with the bluffs, and up she goes 

 with all four legs, kicking and plunging. The old 

 groom, he says, '' Sit fast, and P II hold her at this 

 game till she beats Jierself ;"" then I pets her, and we 

 got quite friendly. I kep on her till we got into the 

 stable, and made much of her. She lets go at me as 

 I was getting off, but trust me I gave her a check for 

 that. I still keeps petting of her, and I got off and 

 on several times with the groom fast hold of her head. 

 I rode her every day, and she became quite a first- 

 rater in Rotten-row, when I went up and down there 

 after Sir Gilbert. I rode six years after him there ; 

 Head-groom days then he bought Sir William Lowther's 

 at Sir Gilbert's, hounds, and gave me head ov^ 40 or 50 

 horses. I was head-groom ten years ; the last two 

 we had no hounds ; he gave them up when Sir Wil- 

 liam come to the title. The country used to be much 

 heavier than what it is now ; it required stronger and 

 better bred horses ; all of them on thorough-breds had 

 the best of it after an hour. It wasn't drained, and 

 the horses wern't above ground half their time. Sir 

 Gilbert used to buy the biggest three-year-old tho- 

 rough-breds he could lay his hands on ; he wouldn't 

 stick at 300/. for them. If there was any good-look- 



