HORSE-DEALING 



all the horses and fodder, and a good stud groom. 

 He was a charming man, and very much liked by 

 everyone. He often made us laugh when con- 

 trolling the field. I remember one day he called 

 out : " Gently, ladies ! please let the good-looking 

 ones go on, and the others more quietly." I 

 remember, too, him calling out to a Major Johnson : 

 " Hold hard ! please, you go so well and get too 

 near the hounds, and, naturally, all the ladies try 

 to follow you." 



That reminds me of an incident one day when I 

 was out with the Oakley. A member of the hunt, 

 who rather prided himself on being a hard rider, 

 was called to order by the Master, Mr. Esme 

 Arkwright. " Hold hard there," he called out. 

 ** Nothing stops you only a fair sized fence." This, 

 before all the field, hurt the rider's feelings very 

 much. 



I once had a very lucky deal. I bought a pony 

 that I saw in a pony cart going along the road. 

 I liked the look of him, and got the owner to 

 bring him up to the stables and I had a ride and 

 gave him ^£40 for him. He turned out an ex- 

 ceptionally good polo pony, and I sold him for 

 ;f 700 the same year. 



We had a lot of very good customers, among them 

 Lord Annaly for himself and the Hunt servants. 

 I must mention another of them, Mr. Merthyr 

 Guest who had the Blackmore Vale. I found the 

 horses for himself and his wife and all the Hunt. 



35 



