REMINISCENCES OF BERT DRAGE 



It was not easy, as the horses had to be all greys. 

 I used to go down and stay with them, and we 

 drove a pair of grey horses to the meet. The old 

 gentleman nearly always was smoking a short clay 

 pipe. I once paid £500 for a horse for him. 



I remember he wired to me to go and buy him 

 the best horse I could going up for sale at the 

 Leicester repository. I wired back : What was 

 the most I was to give ? " "He wired back : 

 " Refer to my telegram." So I bought this horse 

 sent up by Mr. R. C. Swan. Mr. Swan was very 

 annoyed with me. He did not want this particular 

 horse to be sold, so he put ;£500 on him as he felt 

 sure no one would go to that." 



The late King George VI. was a very good 

 customer, and no one could have been more kind 

 or considerate. He was not what you would call 

 a hard rider, but he was a very good horseman and 

 went quite well. I remember there was a brown 

 mare which I sold him that would occasionally 

 refuse with him. He said to me : " You have a 

 day on her." She carried me awfully well. It did 

 not need a particularly good rider to keep her 

 straight, but, you see, I knew the mare and had 

 little trouble with her. 



I remember we rode back together to Naseby 

 Wooleys, where he was hunting from, and our pre- 

 sent Queen, Elizabeth then a little girl, came to see 

 us dismount. She asked me if the mare was going 

 to have her pudding, as the groom was giving the 



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