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ANNALS 
 
 OF 
 
 HORSEMANSHIP: 
 
 CONTAINING ACCOUNTS OF 
 
 ACCIDENTAL EXPERIMENTS, 
 
 AND 
 
 EXPERIMENTAL ACCIDENTS, 
 
 BOTH SUCCESSFUL AND UNSUCCESSFUL: 
 
 COMMUNICATED BY VARIOUS CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 TO 
 
 GEOFFREY GAMBADO, Esq. 
 
 AUTHOR OF TIIE ACADEMY FOR GROWN HORSEMEN; 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 MOST INSTRUCTIVE REMARKS THEREON, AND ANSWERS 
 THERETO, BY THAT ACCOMPLISHED GENIUS. 
 
 AND NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, 
 
 BY THE EDITOR OF THE ACADEMY FOR 
 GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH CUTS BY THE MOST 
 EMINENT ARTISTS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY IT NICHOLSON, WARNER STREET, 
 
 FOR W. BAYNES, 54, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 https://archive.org/details/annalsofhorseman00bunb_1 
 
THE 
 
 EDITOR to the READER. 
 
 The Public is in high luck to obtain any 
 thing more that comes from the pen of Geof¬ 
 frey Gambado. A former publication has 
 nearly immortalized him, and I trust the pre¬ 
 sent will do it completely. It is true this work 
 is chiefly composed of Letters addrest to him, 
 but his remarks and replies are added to them; 
 and had it not been for Geoffrey, such letters 
 had never made their appearance; perhaps 
 never been written. What had been such a 
 loss to the community! I will venture to 
 affirm that few, very few, have heard of such 
 extraordinary cases, such novel ideas, and such 
 obvious and salutary advice as are contained 
 
 in 
 
IV 
 
 THE EDITOR TO 
 
 in the following* pages. Were I to mention 
 the odd place in which I found the MSS. copy 
 of this work, it might create laughter— 
 
 “ A passion hateful to my purposes:” 
 
 For having the safety of man’s neck in my eye 
 at this present writing, I think it no laughing 
 matter; and shall therefore deem it sufficient 
 to say, I have found it, and have now the sa¬ 
 tisfaction of laying it before the world. 
 
 A paltry publication has lately made its 
 appearance, on the same construction as this. 
 It is a periodical thing, entitled The Annals 
 of Agriculture, and will, I dare say, be of 
 much use in the chandlers shops. This too, 
 like Geoffrey’s edifying collection of letters, 
 treats on propagation, cultivation, preserva¬ 
 tion, the good of the nation, fyc. fyc. But 
 when we once consider for a moment the 
 different objects the authors claim our atten¬ 
 tion in behalf of—Should even a potatoe enter 
 
 the 
 
THE READER. 
 
 v 
 
 the lists with a poney, my blood rises—my 
 clioler is excited. 
 
 Talk of propagation! Would the blockheads 
 have us hesitate between a horse chesnut, and 
 a chesnut horse! Common sense forbids it 
 (particularly as it is to be the fashionable co¬ 
 lour in harness this time five years); and as 
 for preservation—Which should humanity first 
 extend her arm to save? A cabbage or a 
 cockney—A captain or a cauliflower? For 
 these reasons I lament seeing, monthly, the 
 names of several respectable friends of mine, 
 affixed to a work of such subordinate considera¬ 
 tion. Had they spent as much time in riding 
 upon turnips, as they have in writing upon 
 them, they might ere now have belonged to 
 the first hunts in the country, and most 
 fashionable clubs in town. But I fear the silk 
 purse and the sows ear are but too applicable 
 to most of them. 
 
 In the ladies, however, Geoffrey will un- 
 
 B doubtedly 
 
THE EDITOR TO 
 
 vi 
 
 doubtedly find warm advocates. Those lovely 
 creatures, who delight so much in the propa¬ 
 gation of their own beautiful species, will ever 
 support the Animal System in preference to the 
 Vegetable; nor waste their precious time and 
 consideration on a carrot, which may be so 
 much better employed in furnishing a cradle. 
 
 And whilst the frantic farmers that furnish 
 their stuff for the Annals of Agriculture, shall 
 be puzzling their brains to preserve a ragged 
 flock of sheep from the rot, the fair sex shall 
 be more nobly employed in the preservation of 
 beauty, and what is more puzzling, though 
 we daily see it attempted—the preservation of 
 even The Human Face Divine, itself. 
 
 Emboldened by these considerations, that 
 the Annals of Horsemanship will speedily drive 
 the Annals of Agriculture out of the house of 
 every man and woman of taste and feeling, 
 I do not hesitate to foresee. From his an¬ 
 swers to some of the following letters it ap¬ 
 pears. 
 
THE READER* 
 
 vii 
 
 pears, that Mr. Gambado was somewhat 
 irritable, as in a postscript, page 7, he ra¬ 
 ther snubs his correspondent for asking his 
 advice. It should likewise seem that he was 
 at this time rather short of cash, for he appears 
 to have given advice for a fee; and once, if I 
 recollect, treats of bad shillings. This, in¬ 
 deed, might a little sour his natural disposi¬ 
 tion, which I have reason to believe, from his 
 physiognomy, was placid and amiable. I am 
 told he seldom rode himself; and the only 
 time he went six miles on horseback, he wore 
 a pair of Diaculum drawers. That such an 
 author should be no rider may appear mar¬ 
 vellous at first, but, on reflection, we must 
 acknowledge that we daily find people speak¬ 
 ing and writing on what they know nothing 
 at all about. Herein Geoffrey exceeds all I 
 ever heard of: for such a book of knowledge 
 as his Academy for Grown Horsemen, never 
 yet made an appearance in the world. 
 
 The 
 
Vlll 
 
 THE EDITOR TO 
 
 The Editor, therefore, of The Academy for 
 Grown Horsemen has now to congratulate 
 the public on the discovery of another work 
 from the pen of the much-admired Geoffrey 
 Gambado; a work that contains some of the 
 most useful and extraordinary experiments, 
 perhaps, ever made in Horsemanship: several 
 curious customs and opinions of ingenious 
 gentlemen, little known to the world, and 
 some collected from very choice, but remote 
 publications; together with (what will be no 
 doubt esteemed invaluable), Geoffrey’s most 
 ingenious suggestions, and prescriptions to¬ 
 wards the removal of every difficulty and 
 danger incidental to that most noble art: his 
 answers to some queries put to him, and his 
 criticisms on others that were un-answerable. 
 
 By the putting forth of this work the pub¬ 
 lic must be let into much useful knowledge. 
 1 he many practical attempts and achieve¬ 
 ments herein recorded prove, beyond a doubt, 
 
 that 
 
THE READER. 
 
 ix 
 
 that such things have been; and having been, 
 that in all probability such things are. And 
 even those experiments that have not been at¬ 
 tended, hitherto, with perfect success, may 
 yet, like balloons, turn out to the most valu¬ 
 able account, when taken into hand by more 
 skilful philosophers. The Editor here begs 
 leave to remark, that the Diaculum Drawers 
 abovementioned, are the only fabrics of the 
 kind he ever heard of, and verily believes they 
 are hitherto non-descript. He has some rea¬ 
 son to think they are yet extant (and should 
 they be, they are worthy the search of the 
 Dilettanti); for a sort of flannel breeches, ap¬ 
 parently prepared in the same manner, but 
 much damaged by time, &c. were last week 
 offered to the Leverian Museum, but are said, 
 for delicate reasons, to have been rejected by 
 the proprietor as unfit for exhibition. What 
 false delicacy! when the man pesters us every 
 day with a non-descript in the papers; some old 
 
 C stinking 
 
X 
 
 THE EDITOR, &c. 
 
 stinking fish, that never could be of service to 
 man, woman, or beast! whereas the drawers, 
 like the North-west passage, if they could be 
 once discovered, might prove hereafter of the 
 greatest fundamental consequence to mankind 
 at large, the Venetians only excepted. 
 
 The Editor. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 IT clearly appears from the Preface to 
 the following /f ork, that it was compiled 
 prior to Mr. Gambado s appointment of Master 
 of the Horse to the Doge of Venice; for it 
 seems he had never at that time been above sir 
 miles from home. 
 
 To most of the Plates the Editor has thought 
 fit to subjoin Latin mottos, as an elucidation 
 of them to such of his Readers as do not un¬ 
 derstand English; and such he may perhaps 
 meet with. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 V 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 V A 
 
 
 
 
GEOFFREY GAMBADO 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 I flatter myself the following compilation 
 will not prove unwelcome to the Public; it 
 blends information with amusement, and 
 confirms how general is the thirst for know¬ 
 ledge in the present times, which is not to 
 he idly checked by the loss of a limb or a 
 life. The adventurers of this age are divided 
 into two classes —per mare, per terras —of 
 which latter description are my correspond¬ 
 ents. Those of the former, fancy they dis¬ 
 cover much, by being at sea for months to- 
 o-ether without sight of land—by the wanting 
 wine and water, and getting neither—but 
 &t length espying something like an island un- 
 
 D known; 
 
XIV 
 
 GEOFFREY GAMBADO TO 
 
 known; it is perhaps more like an owzle than 
 any one laid down in the charts. They do 
 actually discover, however, that the natives 
 will not let them go ashore, and that they 
 must return as wise as they came. They dis¬ 
 cover that they have little left to eat, and less 
 to drink; that they must live by sucking 1 
 each others shirts for half a year, arrive 
 miraculously at home, and write a book about 
 it. 
 
 My Correspondents are of a different stamp; 
 they discover that there is much left unfound 
 out at home, and seem to be meritoriously 
 employed in consequence. Going abroad, 
 with them, I take to be only going out of 
 the house and seeing the world, a laudable 
 ride of a dozen miles. This opinion of seeing 
 the world tempts me to digress a little. My 
 apothecary, a man of knowledge and judg¬ 
 ment, but who, no more than myself, had 
 ever been above six miles from home, being 
 
 obliged 
 
THE READER. 
 
 xv 
 
 obliged to visit a patient at the distance of 
 twenty, actually returned in amazement, and 
 assured me, he could not have thought the 
 world was so big. These were his very 
 words—and was not it mighty natural? 
 
 To shew how much of the natural he had 
 in him, I cannot refrain from adding, that, 
 having passed a turnpike or two, for the first 
 time, in this excursion, he was in raptures at 
 the piety of the people thereabouts; for he 
 told me, that they had the Belief and the Ten 
 Commandments painted upon blue boards at 
 every gate—though he passed through and 
 could not read them, having left his spectacles 
 at home. * 
 
 Pardon, gentle Reader, this digression, which 
 has informed you of an anecdote rather extra¬ 
 ordinary. If you do not believe it, and should 
 find out the subject, who was himself the nar¬ 
 rator; don’t venture to tell him so—He is a 
 passionate man, rather inclined to let blood, 
 
 and 
 
XVI 
 
 GEOFFREY GAMBADO TO 
 
 and may perhaps, if you commit yourself to 
 him, put you to death. 
 
 To return to business—The letters I have 
 received have required a clever arrangement; 
 and I thought it better to add my answers, or 
 remarks, immediately to each, than to huddle 
 the letters into one part and the answers into 
 a second. Cuts were also thought necessary 
 towards the clearing up of some of the most 
 blind descriptions of awkward situations and 
 queer accidents which, I confess, are, here and 
 there, but lamely made out by the writers. I 
 wish my delineator may have succeeded in 
 those I set him to. Several I have received, 
 inclosed in letters from the sufferers, or ex¬ 
 perimental philosophers themselves, many of 
 which are frightfully descriptive. 
 
 I request my Readers will be more attentive 
 to what is contained in the following pages, 
 than they were to my History of Cruppers, 
 this being of a much more serious tendency—- 
 
 and 
 
THE READER. 
 
 XVII 
 
 and a publication that for its salutary or whole* 
 some advice ought to be printed for brass 
 Some of the letters, indeed, border on fri¬ 
 volity, and some even on folly; but as they 
 may divert, though they will not instruct, I 
 shall not omit them; for bread, though taste¬ 
 less, makes a savory dish go down the better. 
 And that this book may go down, I mean 
 with the Town, now, and to Posterity by and 
 by, when it has served its time and my turn 
 here (for I expect some fame from it), is the 
 very earnest wish of, courteous Reader, your 
 very faithful humble Servant, 
 
 G. Gambado. 
 
 * Lest the Printer should forget his erratum, I must suggest, that 
 Mr. G. could never mean for but in brass. 
 
 Mr. G. mentions his History of Cruppers—a work new to my ears— 
 but I shall be diligent in my search after it. 
 
 E 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LETTER THE FIRST. 
 
 Mr. Gambado! 
 
 I return you my most hearty 
 thanks for the very salutary advice you sent 
 me last month, from which I have derived 
 much improvement, and should have acknow¬ 
 ledged sooner, had I made sufficient trial of 
 the fine machine you recommended in such 
 warm terms. My Hobby, as I told you be¬ 
 fore, is an admirable animal, and finely cal¬ 
 culated for a pensive man, like myself, to take 
 the air upon. It was a pity he was so prone 
 to tumble, and that too, in stony roads the 
 most; for he was otherwise bordering on per¬ 
 fection. So I sent for a carpenter, on the 
 receipt of your recipe, and had a large Puzzle 
 of Oak made for him, after the pattern of 
 
 those 
 
O 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 those worn by the Squire’s Pointers; and 1 
 have found it answer prodigiously. 
 
 I have had nothing* like a bad fall lately, 
 except one day in cantering* over a ploughed 
 field, where, upon a blunder, the machine 
 entered the ground with such force as to in¬ 
 troduce a portion of the Hobby’s head along 
 with it. We came clean over, and for some 
 time I thought my Hobby’s neck was broke. 
 I did not mind it myself, but I shall take care 
 in future always to gallop on the hard road, 
 and then such another catastrophe cannot 
 ensue. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 A 
 
 Your very obsequious humble Servant, 
 
 Caleb Cassock. 
 
 Eye, Suffolk. 
 
 P. S. I forgot to tell you my Parishioners stare at me a 
 good deal. The machine has an odd appearance, I own; 
 but not altogether unpicturesque. I got the Drawing- 
 master of Mr. Birch’s school to send you a sketch of me. 
 
 It 
 
7 
 
 > -5*6^ -Sr >r 
 
 Doctor cassock RR.S. TJ!( 
 

 
 
 
 Il| !2 • . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 3 
 
 It is esteemed a likeness. That of the Hobby is rather 
 flattering. 
 
 I have sent you also a sketch of my Puzzle for Dog and 
 Horse, and a scheme for puzzling a Christian. 
 
 C. C. 
 
 MY REMARKS. 
 
 I am happy to find the Puzzle has answered so well; and 
 I doubt not, now it has been tried and approved by such 
 a right-headed, Reverend Gentleman, one who is also so good 
 a horseman, and understands all the matter so well, that, 
 by producing his name, I shall be able to get a patent for 
 it, which cannot but prove very lucrative; for who has the 
 horse that he will swear will never tumble down ? 
 
 This I believe would be a question that would pose (upon 
 oath) every man on horseback in Hyde Park on a Sunday. 
 
 Though Dr. Shaw himself, who is a great traveller indeed, 
 has the modesty to assure us, that the Barbary horses never 
 lie down; yet even he has not the effrontery to say that 
 they never tumble down l 
 
 I received the sketches of the Puzzles for Dogs and Horses; 
 and hold it fit an etching should be made of them, for the 
 information of those who never saw such machines. 
 
 F 
 
 The 
 
4 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 The schemes for puzzling Christians, I suppose, dropt out 
 of the letter, for I never got it. There are, however, so 
 many schemes of that sort already about town, that it is no 
 loss, I dare say. 
 
 G. G. 
 
 My Correspondent, I believe, did not dislike sitting for his 
 picture—there appears such an amiable smirk in his counte¬ 
 nance, and he says too it is esteemed a likeness. 
 
 Note to Letter the First. 
 
 Although this Puzzle for a Christian, as he calls it, was dropt, I can 
 conceive its being of use, if put upon one of those long story-tellers who 
 catch hold of your button, and thrust their nose and mouth in your face, 
 when perhaps it is highly necessary to keep them at arms length. In 
 the adjoining Plate, therefore, are delineated not only the Canini and 
 Equestrian, but also the Christian Puzzle. 
 
 LETTER 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 LETTER THE SECOND. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your fame having reached us 
 here, I set down with pleasure to write to a 
 man who I am certain will have an equal plea¬ 
 sure in satisfying the doubts that now occupy 
 my mind. I would proceed and state every 
 difficulty I find in the treatment and guidance 
 of a horse, to which animal I confess I am 
 rather an alien, although I have happily at¬ 
 tained (yesterday it was) my thirty-fifth year. 
 I was bred to a business that debarred me from 
 an amusement for which I seem formed by 
 nature, being, Sir, very short in the fork, and 
 what our wits call duck legged, and all my 
 weight lying atop: and it was not till I 
 emerged, as I may say, from the counting 
 
 house. 
 
6 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 house, that I could make a trial of my abilities 
 as a horseman. I really think I am going on 
 well, that I am in a state of daily amendment 
 and progressive improvement. The questions 
 I have to put to you Sir are so short and simple 
 that I will not divert your attention from them 
 a bit longer, but put them down as they arise 
 —they require nothing but an answer. 
 
 QUERIES. 
 
 1. What part of my horse must I lay hold of to help me 
 up, for his mane is cut off? 
 
 2. If he will turn to the left when I want to go to the 
 right, how can I help it ? 
 
 3. If he slips his girths, and the crupper is of no use, 
 what will supply its place? 
 
 4. Should he tumble down by day-light, whether you 
 think he would in the dark? 
 
 5. What a breast-plate is? We have heard of it here, 
 but our Sadler does not know how to make one. The 
 Adjutant of the Militia says it is a sort of armour, to pre¬ 
 vent the horse hurting himself by running against a waggon 
 or a wall. But I say it can’t be; because the horse’s head 
 
 should 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 7 
 
 should be armed, as that would hit the wall first, and pre¬ 
 vent his breast receiving any damage. Pray solve this by 
 return of post, as many bets are depending on it at our 
 next Club. 
 
 6. How can I keep a horse cheap ? 
 
 7- What is my best way to sell a bad horse, if I don’t 
 like him ? 
 
 These are a few of the trifling questions I 
 shall beg leave to trouble you with from time 
 to time: and as it will be extremely easy, and, 
 I dare say, agreeable to you, to answer them, 
 I shall make no apology but with my as¬ 
 surance that I am. Sir, 
 
 Your devoted and very humble Servant, 
 
 Samuel Fill agree. 
 
 G. Gambado, Esq. 
 
 This fellow, with his assurance, appeared to be such a 
 puppy, I could not answer him for some months ; indeed his 
 queries rather posed me; but his fees came in fast, and I 
 was fain to solve them as well as I could. 
 
 The first I left to his better judgment, only suggesting 
 that the ear of the horse and the pommel of the saddle 
 
 G 
 
 were 
 
8 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 were all that offered themselves in lieu of a mane, if his 
 horse had none. 
 
 The second I could not assist him in. 
 
 The folly of the third raised my choler, and involving with 
 it the fifth, I had not patience to enter on either of them: so 
 I fear the betts at the Club are not yet decided. 
 
 The fourth and sixth were extremely easy to be answered ; 
 I never met with two queries more so. But the seventh, 
 skilful as I am, I confess I could not reply to, to my Cor¬ 
 respondent’s satisfaction: and I shall be much bound to any 
 of my Readers, who will tell me, how the business therein 
 stated is to be brought about; being ever open to convic¬ 
 tion, and not yet too old to learn. 
 
 G. G. 
 
 LETTER THE THIRD . 
 
 From a Half-way House between Cambridge and Newmarket. 
 
 Sir, March 26, 1789. 
 
 Having long been earnestly en¬ 
 gaged in the study of mathematical science, 
 and being fond of riding, two pursuits usually 
 thought incompatible, I have been enabled, by 
 means of this singular union, to strike out some 
 important discoveries in both branches. The 
 
 mathematical 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 9 
 
 mathematical improvements in riding will, I 
 hope, deserve a place in the Annals of Horse¬ 
 manship: my equestrian discoveries in mathe¬ 
 matics you must permit me to reserve for the 
 Ladies Diary. 
 
 My love for equestrian agitation is, I be¬ 
 lieve, more general than that of any other 
 person; for whatever satisfaction may be 
 usually experienced by riders while they con¬ 
 tinue on the backs of their horses, I have ne¬ 
 ver yet met with or been informed of one, 
 who received any sensible delight from the 
 circumstance of being violently projected from 
 the saddle. But here. Sir, from my passionate 
 fondness for the mathematics, I enjoy a mani¬ 
 fest advantage. From the concussions, reper¬ 
 cussions, and every other kind of compound 
 motion which can be generated consistently 
 with the due support of the centre of gravity, 
 I enjoy, I will venture to say, at least as much 
 satisfaction as any other rider: and at the time 
 of being thrown off, or, in more proper lan- 
 
 guage. 
 
10 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 guage, projected from the horse, I experience a 
 peculiar delight in recollecting that, by the 
 universal laws of projectiles, I must, in my 
 flight through the air, describe that beautiful 
 conic section, a parabola. 
 
 After some accidents of this nature, I have 
 been fortunate enough, notwithstanding the 
 violent re-action of the ground in consequence 
 of the strong action of my skull against it, to 
 preserve my sense sufficiently to be able to as¬ 
 certain the curve so generated by my body to 
 describe it on paper, and demonstrate its pe¬ 
 culiar properties: and am not without hope, if 
 I can meet with horses not too sure-footed, by 
 frequent experiments, to determine what kind 
 of parabola it is safest to describe; which pro¬ 
 blem will, I apprehend, be found very serviceable 
 in practice, at the City Hunt in Easter week, 
 and during the celebration of Epsom races. 
 
 Not long ago, by a particular convulsion of 
 the animal from which I was so fortunate as to 
 fall, I was very irregularly thrown to the earth, 
 
 but 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 II 
 
 but had the satisfaction afterwards to discover 
 that the curve described in my fall was a seg¬ 
 ment of a very eccentric ellipse* of which the 
 saddle was one focus; and that it was nearly* 
 if not exactly, the same with the path of the 
 comet now expected to return. And once, by 
 a succussation still more anomalous, I was 
 happy enough to describe a new curve, which 
 I found to possess some very amazing proper¬ 
 ties; and I hope effectually to immortalize my 
 own name, by calling it Angles first Hippo - 
 jnptic * curve . 
 
 The first equestrian problem that I ever set 
 myself to discover was this; “ When by pull¬ 
 ing the reins you prevent a horse from falling, 
 where is the fulcrum or prop?—and how is 
 the horse s centre of gravity prevented from 
 being thrown beyond the base of his legs?* 
 I will not trouble you now with the particulars 
 
 * Hippopiptic expresses the mode of the curve’s generation in falling 
 from a horse:—from Hippos, a horse, and pipto, to fall. I call it first, 
 because I hope by the same means to discover more hereafter. 
 
 H 
 
 of 
 
12 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 of this difficult investigation; but shall only 
 say, that it turned out greatly to the honour 
 of demtpique saddles; which, accordingly, in 
 the Mathematical Elements of Riding, that I 
 
 mean hereafter to publish, I shall recommend 
 very strongly in a Corollary. 
 
 A learned Student in Mathematics has long 
 published his ability and desire to construct 
 breeches upon geometrical principles *. 
 
 Mr. Nunn is certainly ingenious, and his 
 breeches, a few salient angles excepted, admir¬ 
 able; but the artist who should make bridles, 
 saddles, and other equestrian paraphernalia, by 
 the rules of pure mathematics, would render a 
 much more praise-worthy service to the Public. 
 For if the flimsy leather of breeches require 
 
 * Mr. Nunn’s advertisement is as follows: 
 
 “ BREECHES-MAKING improved by GEOMETRY.**’ 
 
 “ Thomas Nunn, Breeches-maker, No. 29 , Wigmorc-street, Caven¬ 
 dish-square, has invented a system on a mathematical principle, by 
 which difficulties are solved, and errors corrected: its usefulness for ease 
 and neatness in fitting, is incomparable, and is the only perfect rule 
 for that work ever discovered. Several hundreds (noblemen, gentle¬ 
 men, and others) who have had proof of its utility, allow it to excel all 
 they ever made trial of.” 
 
 geometrical 
 
 O 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 13 
 
 geometrical cutting, how much more necessary 
 must it be to the tough hide which forms the 
 bridle ? and to what purpose will the geometry 
 in the breeches operate, if the saddle, by which 
 they are to be supported, and whose superfices 
 they are to touch in as many points as possible, 
 be formed ungeometrically? But I forbear to 
 e^atiate on a matter as plain as an axiom of 
 Euclid; trusting that whoever can perceive the 
 utility of geometrical breeches, will readily 
 argue, a fortiori, to the absolute necessity of 
 geometrical saddles and bridles. 
 
 Pursuing my principles, I have demon- 
 strated what is the right line to be drawn by 
 the mathematical rider in every difficult situa¬ 
 tion. In ascending a horse’s back, at what 
 angle to extend the moveable leg 1 , while the 
 fixed one is rested in the stirrup: in leaping, 
 how to regulate the oscillation, or balancing, 
 of the body, by attending carefully to that 
 fundamental point which is your centre of 
 motion: in starting, how to dispose of the su¬ 
 perfluous 
 
14 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 perfluous momentum, and thereby to preserve 
 in full force the attraction of cohesion between 
 rump and saddle: in rearing, at what angle, 
 formed by the horse’s back with the plane of 
 the horizon, it is most advisable to slide down 
 over his tail: which, I maintain, is the only 
 expedient that can be practised with a mathe¬ 
 matical certainty of being safe: these, and 
 many other important secrets, I am ready, at 
 any time when called upon, to communicate. 
 One I cannot even now withhold, which is 
 this: that there is no good or truly geometri¬ 
 cal riding, unless the legs be extended perfect¬ 
 ly in straight lines, so as to form tangents to 
 the cylindrical surface of the horse’s body: in 
 a word, to resemble, as much as possible, a 
 pair of compasses set astride upon a telescope; 
 which I conceive to be the perfect model of 
 mathematical riding. 
 
 But besides this application of pure geome¬ 
 try, it has often struck me, that too little use 
 is made, in riding, of the principles of mixed 
 
 mathematics. 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 15 
 
 mathematics. Consider, Mr. Gambado, the 
 six mechanical powers! the lever , the wheel 
 and axle, the pulley , the inclined plane, the 
 ivedge , and the screw; and reflect with what 
 advantage all these may be applied to the uses 
 of Horsemanship. By means of a lever , hav¬ 
 ing an elevated fulcrum raised on the pommel 
 of the saddle, an entire stop might be put to 
 the practice of falling; except where the prac¬ 
 titioner should voluntarily take a tumble, for 
 the express purpose of studying the Parabola, 
 or Hippopiptic Curve. The wheel and axle is 
 already applied in the use of horses, though not 
 in any branch of Horsemanship, except the 
 driving of post-chaises; but is also found so 
 efficacious in preventing falls, that where a 
 horse has been used to that assistance, it is not 
 reckoned safe to ride him without. The ap¬ 
 plication of the wedge might, undoubtedly, 
 very materially improve the art of fig ging. 
 The screw might, with advantage, be applied to 
 the direction of the horses head with more ex- 
 
 I actness, 
 
16 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 actness, and consequently enable the rider to 
 guide his course with mathematical accuracy. 
 The inclined plane might happily be introduced 
 to facilitate the backward slide of the rider at 
 the time of rearing, as above mentioned. And a 
 system of pullies, in the nature of Mr. Smeaton’s, 
 by giving the rider a force equal to the action of 
 many thousand pounds weight, might for ever 
 put an end to the dangerous vice of running* away. 
 
 By the use of the principles of astronomy, I 
 have invented a mode of taking the exact al¬ 
 titude of any horse, at two observations; and 
 am at present at work on a Hippodromo- 
 meter *, to ascertain the velocity of his course 
 in the very act of riding'. 
 
 But while I boast, and, I trust, with reason, 
 of these discoveries, I must candidly confess 
 that a rigorous attention to theory has some¬ 
 times betrayed me into practical errors. When 
 my horse has been pulling earnestly one way. 
 
 * From Hippos a horse, dromes a course, and met rein to measure. 
 
 111V 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 17 
 
 my own intention being at the same time to 
 go another, I have pulled strongly at right 
 angles to the line of his course; expecting, 
 from the laws of compound motion, that we 
 should then proceed, neither in the line of his 
 effort nor of my pull, but in an intermediate 
 one, which would be the diagonal of the pa¬ 
 rallelogram, of which our forces were as the 
 sides; but have always found that this method 
 produced a rotatory instead of a rectilinear mo¬ 
 tion. When a horse has run away, I have, to 
 avoid the waste of force in my own arms, cal¬ 
 culated the necessary diminution of it in his 
 legs; but, unfortunately, estimating it as the 
 squares of the distances multiplied into the 
 times, I was frequently dashed against walls, 
 pitched over gates, and plunged into ponds, be¬ 
 fore I discovered that it is not as the squares 
 of the times, but merely as the times. I men¬ 
 tion these circumstances by way of caution to 
 other theorists; not being at all discouraged 
 myself by such trifling failures, and hoping, by 
 
 your 
 
18 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 your assistance, to convince the world that no 
 man can ever become a perfect rider, unless 
 he has first made mathematics his hobby-horse. 
 You will pardon this innocent play of words 
 on a subject so serious, and believe me to be. 
 Sir, with great esteem. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Habakkuk Angle. 
 
 LETTER THE FOURTH 
 To Mr. G. Gambado. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I want your advice, and hope you 
 will give it me, concerning a horse I have lately 
 bought, and which does not carry me at all in 
 the same way he did the man I bought him of. 
 Being recommended to a Dealer in Moorfields 
 (who I rather think is no honester than he 
 ought to be), I went to him, and desired to look 
 into his stable, and so he took mein; with a 
 long whip in his hand, which he said was to 
 
 wake 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 « 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 19 
 
 wake the horses that might perhaps be asleep, 
 as they were but just arrived from a long jour¬ 
 ney, coming fresh from the breeders in the 
 North. There were some tine looking geld¬ 
 ings, I thought, and I pitched upon one that I 
 thought would suit me; and so he was saddled, 
 and I desired the Dealer to mount him, and he 
 did, and a very fine figure the gelding cut; and 
 so the people in the street said; and a decent 
 man, in a scratch wig, said, the man that rode 
 him knew how to make the most of him; and 
 so I bought him. But he goes in a different 
 manner with me, for instead of his capering 
 like a Trooper, he hangs down his head and 
 tail, and neither whip nor spur can get him out 
 of a snail’s gallop. And I want to know whe¬ 
 ther by law I must keep him, as he is not cer¬ 
 tainly the horse I took him for; and therefore 
 I ought to have my money again. 
 
 The Limner in our lane was with me when 
 I bought him, and has taken a picture of him 
 as he was with the Dealer on his back, and 
 
 K another 
 
20 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 another as he now goes with me upon his back; 
 by which you will see the difference* and judge 
 better how to advise me upon it. 
 
 I am* Sir* your humble Servant* 
 
 Tobias Higgins. 
 
 Lavender Row, Shoreditch. 
 
 Please to direct to Mr. T. H. Back-maker; or it may go 
 to my Namesake, the Turncock. 
 
 Reply to Letter the Fourth . 
 
 Sir* 
 
 Upon a strict examination of the 
 two pictures by the Limner in your lane* I am 
 clear you are in possession of the identical 
 horse you intended to purchase* although he 
 does not exhibit quite so much agility under 
 you, or make so tearing a figure as when 
 
 mounted by Mr.-who I am well acquainted 
 
 with* and who* you may depend upon* is as 
 honest a man as any that deals in horse flesh. 
 You could have no riejit to return the horse if 
 
 he 
 
ruj 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 *21 
 
 lie went no better than one with his legs tied. 
 
 You stand in the predicament of Lord P-, 
 
 who gave twenty guineas for Punch, and 
 when he found he could not make him speak, 
 prosecuted the Puppet-shew-man; but my 
 Lord Chief Justice adjudged the man to keep 
 his money, and my Lord, his Punch, although 
 he could not get a word out of him. 
 
 My opinion is. Sir, as you ask it: that the 
 decent man in the scratch wig made a very 
 sensible remark, when he observed, that my 
 
 friend Mr.-knew how to make the most of 
 
 a horse, and I am satisfied that you, Sir, know 
 with equal facility, how to make the least of 
 one. 
 
 I am, Sir, your humble Servant, 
 
 G. Gambado. 
 
 P. S. I am sorry to add, my Maid tells me, that two 
 shillings out of your five were very bad ones. 
 
 LETTER 
 
22 9 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 LETTER THE FIFTH 
 To G. Gambado, Esq. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 As I consider you, both from your 
 situation and eminence in the science of Horse¬ 
 manship, as the superior and patron of all 
 Riding* Masters, permit me, an humble mem¬ 
 ber of that honourable profession, to request 
 your countenance in my endeavours to diffuse 
 the noble and useful accomplishment over the 
 whole kingdom. 
 
 It is well known that many of his Majesty’s 
 faithful subjects, whose occupations oblige them 
 daily to figure as Equestrians; so far from hav¬ 
 ing been instructed in the art of Riding, are 
 totally ignorant that any such art, or rather 
 science, exists. For the benefit of these, I 
 propose publishing a Treatise on Horseman¬ 
 ship, confined to the lower classes of life. 
 
 The first part I shall dedicate to the instruc¬ 
 tion 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 23 
 
 tion of that very numerous and brilliant fra¬ 
 ternity, called London Riders, or Bagsters; 
 who cut, or rather (as my Lord Chesterfield 
 will have it) make so smart a figure in a coun¬ 
 try town; for these gentlemen, I propose to 
 point out and demonstrate, from irrefragable 
 principles, the handsomest manner of riding 
 behind their bags, with the genteelest method 
 of rolling, strapping, and carrying their great 
 coats. In a short digression, and a few mar¬ 
 ginal notes, I intend to drop some hints, in¬ 
 structing butchers in the smartest fashion of 
 carrying a tray, whether loaded or empty. 
 
 I shall likewise risque a few thoughts respect¬ 
 ing the theory and practice of the art of riding 
 before a lady on a double horse, vulgarly termed 
 a la g'ormag'on, with some necessary instructions 
 thereon; a due attention to which matters has 
 more than once transplanted a coachman from 
 his box, or a footman from behind the coach, 
 and placed him in the carriage by the side of 
 his Mistress. 
 
 L 
 
 I pro- 
 
24 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 I propose also to devote part of my labours 
 to the service of the fair sex, in composing* a 
 set of easy rules for riding gracefully between 
 a pair of panniers, and supporting a butter 
 basket in the most elegant stile; a thorough 
 possession of these attractions may draw the 
 attention of the fox-hunting Squires, and pos¬ 
 sibly raise the Lady possessing them, to the 
 dignity of Spouse to his Worship the Justice. 
 
 That nothing may be wanting, I propose to 
 appropriate a few pages to the art of sitting 
 politely in carriages, with the most becoming 
 attitudes adopted to each vehicle. Among 
 others, the politest manner of airing, enfamille , 
 in a gig, accompanied with a husband and 
 three children; and, as there is no situation 
 wherein art cannot be advantageously em¬ 
 ployed, I shall give a few precepts for the most 
 advantageous display of the person on a hay, 
 pea, or dust cart. For the use of both sexes, I 
 had also digested a few hints and directions, 
 pointing out the most solemn and affecting 
 
 manner 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 25 
 
 manner of riding in a cart up Holborn Hill, 
 from Newgate to Tyburn; but the late adop¬ 
 tion of the New Drop has made them, in a 
 great measure, useless in London; they may 
 however be serviceable to persons under simi¬ 
 lar circumstances in country towns. As soon 
 as I have put my work together, I shall beg 
 your opinion of it; being, Sir, 
 
 Your humble Admirer, 
 
 and most obedient Servant, 
 
 James La Croupe. 
 
 The above Work if well executed, promises to make a 
 very pretty Supplement to mine. 
 
 G. Gambado. 
 
 LETTER THE SIXTH 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Being informed that you are now 
 at home, and desirous of giving every informa¬ 
 tion in your power to those who may stand in 
 need of it, respecting their Horses, I beg leave 
 to submit my case to you; which, considering 
 
 how 
 
26 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 how fond I am of the chace, you must admit 
 to be a lamentable one. Relying* however, Sir, 
 as I do, on your Philanthropy (I should more 
 properly say Philippigy), and that zeal in the 
 cause which has so long characterised you, I 
 make no doubt but the small difficulties I now 
 labour under will be soon surmounted. 
 
 You must know. Sir, I am very fond of hunt¬ 
 ing, and live in as fine a scenting country as any 
 in the kingdom. The soil is pretty stiff, the 
 leaps large and frequent, and a great deal of 
 timber to get over. Now, Sir, my brown horse 
 is a very capital hunter; and though he is slow, 
 and I cannot absolutely ride over the hounds 
 (indeed the country is so enclosed, that I do not 
 see so much of them as I could wish), yet, in 
 the end, he generally brings me in before the 
 huntsman goes home with the dogs; so, thus 
 far, I have no reason to complain. Now, Sir, 
 my brown horse is a noble leaper, and never 
 gave me a fall in his life in that way; but he has 
 got an awkward trick (though he clears every 
 
 thing 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - ■ . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 t ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 27 
 
 thing with his fore legs in a capital stile), of 
 leaving the other two on the wrong side of the 
 fence; and if the gate or stile happens to be in 
 a sound state, it is a work of time and trouble 
 to get his hind legs over. He clears a ditch 
 finely indeed, with two feet, but the others con¬ 
 stantly fall in; that it gives me a strange pain in 
 my back, very like what is called a Lumbago; 
 and unless you kindly stand my friend, and in¬ 
 struct me how I am to bring these hind legs 
 after me, I fear I shall never get rid of it. If 
 you please. Sir, you may ride him a hunting 
 yourself any day you will please to appoint, 
 and you shall be heartily welcome. You will 
 then be better enabled to give me your advice; 
 you can’t have a proper conception of the jerks 
 he will give you, without trying him. 
 
 I am, Sir, with due respect. 
 
 Your very humble Servant, 
 
 Nic. Nutmeg, Clerk. 
 
 Hinder clay, near Botesdale, Suffolk. 
 
 P. S. I hope what I have enclosed is genteel. 
 
 Mr. Geoffrey Gambado. 
 
 M 
 
 The 
 
28 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 The ANSWER. 
 
 Reverend Sir* 
 
 Your brown horse being so good 
 a hunter, and, as you observe, having so fine a 
 notion of leaping, I should be happy if I could 
 be of any service in assisting you to make his 
 two hind legs follow the others; but, as you 
 observe, they seem so very perverse and obsti¬ 
 nate, that I cherish but small hopes of prevail¬ 
 ing upon them. 
 
 I have look’d, and found many such cases, but 
 no cure. However, in examining my papers, 
 I have found out something that may prove of 
 service to you, in your very lamentable case. 
 
 An Hostler (or Osteler, for so I believe it is 
 usually written, though I find in the most 
 learned Dictionary in our language, which ex¬ 
 plains some thousands of words more than 
 Johnson, that it is vulgarly and improperly 
 written Ostteler, for Otsteler, query Oat- 
 
 stealer, 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 29 
 
 stealer, and this, it must be allow’d, appears to 
 be the true word), an Otsteller that has in¬ 
 formed me, that it is a common trick play’d 
 upon Bagsters, or London Riders, when they 
 are not generous to the servants in the Inn, 
 for a wicked boy or two to watch one of them, 
 as he turns out of the gateway, and to pop a 
 bush or stick under his horse’s tail, which he 
 instantly brings down upon the stick, and holds 
 it fast, kicking at the same time at such a rate 
 as to dislodge the Bagman that bestrides him. 
 (The annexed Plate will shew how the stick 
 should be placed). Here, Sir, is a horse that 
 lifts up his hind legs witliout moving his fore 
 ones; and just the reverse, as I may say, of 
 yours; and, perhaps, the hint may be accept¬ 
 able. Suppose, then, when your horse has 
 flown over a gate or a stile in his old way, with 
 his fore legs only, you were to dismount, and 
 clap your whip, or stick, properly under his 
 tail, and then mount again; the putting him in 
 a little motion will set him on his kicking prin¬ 
 ciples 
 
30 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 ciples in a hurry, and its ten to one but, by 
 this means, you get his hind legs to follow the 
 others. You will be able, perhaps, to extricate 
 your stick from its place of confinement, when 
 you are up and over (if you ant down); but 
 should you not, it is but sixpence gone. I send 
 you this as a mere surmise; perhaps it may an¬ 
 swer, perhaps not. 
 
 I thank you for your offer, which is a very 
 kind one, but I beg to be excused accepting 
 it; all my ambition being to add to the theory, 
 with as little practice as possible. 
 
 I am. Rev. Sir, your most humble Servant, 
 
 G. Gambado^ 
 
 Rev. A J 'ic. Nutmeg , Hinderclay , Suffolk. 
 
 N. B. What you enclosed was perfectly genteel, and 
 agreeable too. 
 
 Note. 
 
 Mr. Gambado shews more good writing, at least more knowledge of 
 what good writing should be, in the beginning of the above Answer, 
 than in any of his Letters. The judicious Reader will observe that the 
 Answer at first is an echo of the Letter it replies to. This is approach¬ 
 ing to excellence; it is bordering on the abilities of a Statesman; for 
 so the Minister’s address re-echoes the speech from the Throne. Geof- 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 31 
 
 frey’s parts appear surely calculated for more places than one; and 1 
 do not scruple to think it possible, that, with a proper education, he 
 might have been on the Treasury Bench; and a very pretty States¬ 
 man, I dare say, he would have made. 
 
 Note. 
 
 The Dictionary above alluded to, is a very deep work: instead of 
 its containing more words by thousands only than are in Johnson— 
 Johnson does not give us ten words that are in it—nor does it contain 
 much above ten words that are in Johnson. No family should be with¬ 
 out it, especially such as have plenty of young Masters and Misses in 
 them; for it will at once satisfy any little doubts in their unfledg’d un¬ 
 derstandings, and let them into all the natural, but vulgar tricks and 
 expressions that they ought to avoid. This admirable Dictionary is 
 entitled a Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. 
 
 Note. 
 
 If Lord Aboyne should lose his Crest, which I don’t see how he can 
 well do, I would advise him to adopt this print of Mr. Nutmeg’s 
 hunter, to which his Lordship’s motto is finely applicable. 
 
 “ Stant cetera tigno.’' 
 
 N 
 
 LETTER 
 
32 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 LETTER THE SEVENTH. 
 
 To G. Gambado, Esq. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Hearing much of your knowledge 
 in horses, I beg - leave to ask your advice in a 
 business wherein my delicacy as a Gentleman 
 is deeply concern’d, and flatter myself that you 
 will sensibly feel for my situation, my future 
 fortune in life in a great measure depending- on 
 your decision. I have the happiness to be 
 well received by a young Lady of fortune in 
 this town, who rides out every morning, and 
 has had the g-oodness to permit me to join her 
 for some days past. I flatter myself I am be- 
 lov’cl; but, Sir, the horse I ride is my Father’s, 
 and he will not allow me to part with him: 
 and this horse, Sir, has an infirmity of such an 
 extreme indelicate nature, that our interviews 
 are broke off every five minutes, and my dear 
 
 Miss 
 
T 
 
 M PULCHERTMTTS ALTER, ALTER A QD'AS ORIE'N'S H ABU IT PR/ELAT 
 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 33 
 
 Miss S— will perhaps ride away with some other 
 Gownsman who is more decently mounted. 
 
 I really. Sir, dare not mention, in plain terms, 
 the shocking* failing of my horse; but, perhaps, 
 if you look into Bailey’s Dictionary, you may 
 find it out under the article of Wind. Be 
 pleas’d, Sir, to send me a recipe for this horrid 
 infirmity, or I may lose my dear girl for ever. 
 I have tried several experiments, but all in 
 vain; and unless you stand my friend, I shall 
 go distracted. 
 
 Tnfandum Regina jubes renovare dolorem. 
 
 I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 In a great fuss, Your s most truly, 
 
 George Gillyflower. 
 
 St. John’s Coi.l. Cambridge. 
 
 P. S. Regina is not her name, don't imagine that. May 
 I be allow’d to say, I am very anxious for an immediate 
 answer, as she rides out again on Friday next. 
 
 Memorandum . 
 
 In consequence of the above, I sent the case to my 
 Farrier, who forwarded directly some powders to Mr. Gilly¬ 
 flower 
 
34 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 flower with the following Note. The efficacy being so cer¬ 
 tain, the trifling indelicacy of the prescription must be ex¬ 
 cused. 
 
 Honoured Sir, 
 
 By advice from Mr. Gambado of your horse’s complaint, 
 I have sent you a powder so strong, that if administer’d 
 night and morning in his corn, will be bold to say no horse 
 in England shall ever fart again after Thursday next. Shall 
 be very thankful for your Honour’s custom in the same way 
 in future, and your Lady’s too, if agreeable; being, 
 Honoured Sir, 
 
 Your Servant to command, 
 
 Jo. Wood. 
 
 At my House at Cheslmnt every day. Horses shod agreeable to 
 nature and according to art. 
 
 G. Gillyflower, Esq. St. Johns Coll. Cambridge. 
 
 Additional Memorandum. 
 
 I thought it necessary to employ my Draughtsman, to 
 delineate an interview, between a Gentleman and Lady 
 enamour’d of each other, mounted on horses, labouring 
 under the infirmity mentioned in the above letter. The at¬ 
 titude of the animals at these times, is admirably singular; 
 and has such an effect on the Rider, as always to attract his 
 eyes towards the tail, to see what is the matter. Indeed the 
 back becomes somewhat like that of a camel, until all is 
 
 ventilated. 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 35 
 
 ventilated. I have seen so many things of this kind, that I 
 am concern’d for the young Lady’s feelings, on this occa¬ 
 sion, knowing they must be great. But still, those feelings, 
 well delineated, might have as fine an effect as Le Brun’s 
 Passions.—I fear, however, my friend Wood, and his pre¬ 
 scriptions, will be in disgrace; for a day or two ago, the 
 
 learned Dr.-of St. John’s College (the same to which 
 
 Mr. Gillyflower belongs), call’d on me for an ointment to 
 make the hair grow on his horse’s tail; and talking about 
 Mr. Gillyflower’s horse, he said he knew him; and that he 
 had bought him out of the Duke of Norfolk’s Stud. I then 
 told the Doctor of the awkward infirmity he had; upon 
 which, he said, he was not a bit surpriz’d, for the horse was 
 got by Phlegon, and Phlegon was one of the Sun’s horses he 
 drove in his chariot; and that Phlegon and the other three 
 were all got by the winds # ; so that no Wood in the king¬ 
 dom would be able to get his windy tricks out of him. 
 
 Mr. Gillyflower being a scholar, might have known as 
 much, methinks. 
 
 G. G. 
 
 * Naturum (observed the Doctor) expellas furea tamen usque recurret. 
 
 o 
 
 letter 
 
36 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 LETTER THE EIGHTH 
 
 To the Editor of the Annals of Horsemanship . 
 
 Mr. Gambado, 
 
 I am a tradesman in the middling- 
 way, and keeps a shop in Holborn, where you 
 maybe furnished with the best hose, of all sorts, 
 at the lowest prices; but being- determined to 
 pay every one their own, without swindling-, 
 cannot afford to keep a one horse shay, or a 
 gigg; and yet having a wife and daughter 
 grown up to woman s estate, I could wish, for 
 quietness sake, to give them an airing to High- 
 gate, Hampstead, or Hornsey, on a Sunday, 
 like the rest of my neighbours; but this I can¬ 
 not cleverly do on a single horse, which is all 
 I keeps. I was therefore thinking, that as you 
 knows all about these here things, you might 
 tell me of some kind of saddle, whereby it 
 might be done, for we are all of us little, and 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 37 
 
 very slight. I therefore takes the liberty of 
 axing* your advice, and am ready to make you 
 the compliment of a pair of best boot stocking’s 
 for it. 
 
 I think it is a shame the Society of Arts do 
 not advertise a premium for finding out some 
 oeconomical scheme of this nature. Instead of 
 which, at this very time, you have a parcel of 
 fellows who go about teaching folks to ride on 
 three horses at once, when as how there are 
 very few, in a moderate line, that can afford 
 to keep half a one. 
 
 I am, yours, &c. 
 
 Timomhy Leg. 
 
 P. S. I have some notion the Legs are related to the Gam¬ 
 bados. I know we are a-kin to the Boots. 
 
 The ANSWER. 
 
 Mr. Leg, 
 
 If you can purchase a very long’- 
 
 back’d horse, the thing you require is very 
 
 practicable, 
 
38 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 practicable, and by one common, and two side 
 saddles, you may all ride in file, or one behind 
 the other; one lady facing to her right, the 
 other to her left. But if your horse is of the 
 short punchy kind, you may manage the 
 matter nearly in rank, or all in a row, by means 
 of two appendages like panniers. 
 
 Thus, I think, I can accommodate any body, 
 who has more than two to be convey’d, and is 
 either possest of a long, or a short-back’d 
 horse. 
 
 I make no doubt but you are connected some 
 way or other with us, I therefore have sent 
 you all the wholesome advice I could. And 
 as there is no contenting all, I hope, at least, 
 the Legs will be satisfied, whoever else may 
 grumble. 
 
 I am your Friend and Kinsman, 
 
 G. Gambado. 
 
 Your boot stockings will be very acceptable, as I have a 
 touch of the gout in my knees. 
 
 LETTER 
 

HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 39 
 
 LETTER THE NINTH. 
 
 To G. Gambado, Esq. 
 
 Mr. Gambado, 
 
 The following- very singular affair 
 happening in my presence yesterday, I take the 
 earliest opportunity of informing you of it: in 
 hopes, if any other accounts of it should reach 
 you, my story may be heard first. I was just 
 come out of my parish church, where I had, 
 indissolubly I suppose, united one John Mudd, 
 to one Elizabeth Middleditch. I was detain’d 
 some time in the belfry, reprimanding my Clerk 
 for suffering a tribe of filthy dogs to be parad¬ 
 ing the aisle during the nuptial ceremony; 
 when, on my entering the church-yard, I de¬ 
 scried John, rather too sweet upon Elizabeth, 
 and conducting her among the tomb-stones, 
 under the large apple-trees. I instantly sallied 
 to rout them, which, as I was effecting, I heard 
 
 P a noise 
 
40 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 a noise of a tremendous kind, and looking up, 
 saw (its a fact) a fierce-looking man, mounted 
 on a horse of great magnitude, prancing in the 
 middle of an apple-tree. He showered down 
 the pippins like hail upon us, and, as I saw he 
 was about to descend, I, for fear of the worst, 
 took to my heels, and was home, I believe, in 
 a shorter time by some minutes than I was the 
 Sunday before, when there was a danger of a 
 turbot’s being overdrest. The parish have 
 taken it up; and, I understand, stories of the 
 turbot are handed about, to hurt me with the 
 Bishop; and this last business of the apple-tree, 
 is turned into very shameful scandal. But the 
 above is truth, 1 am ready to affirm. I have 
 since heard that the figure and horse came to 
 flie earth, and flying over the clnirch-yard wall, 
 were seen no more. I have put some of the 
 pippins in brandy (not for eating), as no doubt 
 they will fetch a high price when this story is 
 publickly known. I am told also, that after 
 my taking to flight, John and his Mate re¬ 
 turn'd 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 41 
 
 turn’d under the apple-tree, no more dismay’d 
 than if they had seen a common man a horse¬ 
 back. 
 
 I am. Sir, most assuredly yours, 
 
 G. Tackem. 
 
 Whether this was somewhat preternatural or no, I can¬ 
 not determine. I am a good deal stagger’d in my belief, 
 and dare not, at present, make publick my opinions. But I 
 should be glad to hear yours. I have, however, determin'd 
 to have the apple-trees down. 
 
 MY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 This is very hard upon the apple-trees, and harder upon 
 those that make pies from them. The story certainly seem’d 
 surprizing at first; and being, I confess, a little superstitious, 
 I suspected my Divine was none of the over-righteous, 
 and that either a spirit, or his conscience, frighted him. 
 But the matter was soon clear’d up, by the receipt of the 
 following letter, which came to my hands about five days 
 after the other. 
 
 Mr. Sir, 
 
 I forgot your name, and so got a friend to direct this to 
 you. I am told you are a useful man, that you publish all 
 
 you 
 
42 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 you receive, and believe all you publish. Now, if you can 
 
 swallow this, you will any thing; though I’ll be d-d if it 
 
 is not true. Last Thursday our hounds started a hare so 
 suddenly, whilst we were chatting and lolling carelessly, 
 that, by G—, my horse, who pulls like the devil, was off 
 with me in ajiffey. As ill luck would have it, the curb 
 broke, and he ran straight on for the cliffs above the Scar. 
 I was in a hell of a stew, but stuck fast, and pull’d, and 
 haul'd, to try to turn him, but to no purpose; for he made 
 a sort of a shy towards the cliff, and down we both went, 
 by G—d. As good luck would have it, we came plump into 
 a large apple-tree, in a church-yard, where we swung for 
 some time, but the boughs gave way, and brought us safe 
 and sound to land. I tipp’d my nag over a broken place in 
 the wall, and soon found the hounds again. But the finest 
 thing of all was, when we first lit in the apple-tree, up 
 bounced a fine girl from underneath; and a moment after, 
 ecod! old Pudding-sleeves himself, in full regimentals; I 
 gave him a tantara, and the Doctor ran like a hare. You 
 may insert this if you please, and as it’s a fact, you may 
 tack my name to it; being, 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 Henry Beagle, Jun. 
 
 IIuntscrag, Northumberland. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS. 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 43 
 
 OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The above extraordinary affair appeared first in the pub- 
 lick paper at Newcastle, and was afterwards copied into 
 those in London; the anecdote of the Clergyman excepted. 
 I own I did not give credit to it, until I received the above 
 letters, which put it beyond all doubt. For one of my cor¬ 
 respondents was the person himself who made the extraor¬ 
 dinary descent; and the Doctor, who vouches for it, I 
 should imagine, had as lieve it had never happened. 
 
 It is indeed worthy a place in these Annals, as a very 
 singular accident; but I know not what knowledge is to be 
 derived from it, except that a down leap is not so very 
 dangerous, provided you have an apple-tree to leap into: 
 at the same time, such a tree affords but bad shelter for an 
 amour, at least at the foot of a steep cliff, as the Doctor 
 must admit. 
 
 G. G. 
 
 Q 
 
 LETTER 
 
44 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 LETTER THE TENTH 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Permit me, through the channel 
 of the Penny Post, to address you on a subject 
 I do not entirely understand; and which you, 
 no doubt, from the eminence of your name, 
 are a most complete master of. I have bought 
 a grey gelding lately, which I never had seen 
 out of the stable, and he look’d a very grand 
 figure in a stall, and they assured me he was 
 sound: so, Sir, I bought him, and the next day 
 mounted and rode him to Chiswick. The 
 horse. Sir, I presumed went oddly; and I 
 got the hostler of the King of Bohemia to get 
 up instead of me, and let me see him go. He 
 went extremely well with his fore legs, just 
 clearing the ground; but he lifted up his hind 
 
 ones 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 45 
 
 ones as if he was dancing, or drunk: it is the 
 most fantastic way of going I ever saw; and I 
 sent, and said I should return him: the gen¬ 
 tleman said no—that a horse could not go too 
 much above his ground; and if it was with his 
 hind legs, it was better he should do so, than 
 trip before and behind too. 
 
 I wish to know your opinion upon this: 
 whether I must take him, or not. I am the 
 joke of the road wherever I go, and the black¬ 
 guards advise me to ride him tail foremost. 
 I don’t love a joke, especially wherein con¬ 
 cern’d myself; and rather than have another 
 cut upon me, I shall cut riding entirely, and 
 sell this palfrey of mine to the proprietors of 
 the Brentford Fly. It is a pity, Sir, that there 
 is not room in the Leverian, or any other Mu¬ 
 seum, to exhibit the extraordinary motions of 
 Bipeds and Quadrupeds; which, I think, are 
 often more wonderful than their structure. 
 Had there been such a convenience, I could 
 have sold my horse for a hundred guineas, as a 
 
 shew; 
 
46 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 shew; and provided for a damn’d old Uncle of 
 mine, that is always in mv way. Awaiting* 
 your answer, 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your most respectful Servant, 
 
 R. Morecraft, Jun. 
 
 Seething Lane, London. 
 
 N. B. Having just mentioned what I could sell my horse 
 for under particular circumstances; I must beg you, at the 
 same time, to understand, that he is at your service for five 
 guineas. 
 
 G. Gambado , Esq. 
 
 Memorandum to Letter the Tenth . 
 
 I remember answering this flippant young gentleman. 
 But I could neither make him comprehend, that his horse 
 was afflicted with a double portion of the String Halt, or that 
 he was to give me a fee for my trouble. So our correspondence 
 closed. But the horse is actually to be seen going four 
 times a day, in the Greenwich, not the Brentford, Fly, with 
 a dog on his back; and so very rare and uncouth is his me¬ 
 thod of handling his hind legs, that I have never seen so ex¬ 
 traordinary an instance of excellence in canine equitation. 
 
 G. G. 
 
 N. B. The 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 47 
 
 N. B. The Public to be told, I am not to be trifled with. 
 This young gentleman never wanted my advice, I daresay; 
 put me to some expence in letters, about a damn’d horse, 
 which he had better have given to his Uncle at once, for his 
 own riding. I don’t love a joke myself. 
 
 LETTER THE ELEVENTH. 
 To Mr. GEOFFREY GAMBADO. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 The following Extract of a Letter 
 from Newmarket fell into my hands lately, 
 near Chester. It contains an account of so ex¬ 
 traordinary and severe a race, and exhibits 
 such an instance of bottom in three horses, as 
 can scarcely be parellel’d in the annals of rac¬ 
 ing. I hope it comes under the description 
 that will gain it admittance into your publica¬ 
 tion. I have made much enquiry at New¬ 
 market about it, and can only make out, that 
 the Oldest Jockies suppose it to be a letter from 
 
 R the 
 
48 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 the Duke of Wharton to Sir William More, in 
 Cheshire, who was his confederate on the turf. 
 
 I am. Sir, 
 
 Your very humble Servant, 
 
 John Hayman. 
 
 LETTER THE TWELFTH 
 
 Extract of a Letter from Newmarket. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 “ This Day the following horses 
 started for the King’s Plate: Lord Godolphin’s 
 b. H. Shakespear, by his Arabian, out of a 
 True Blue Mare; Lord Portmore’s b. H. 
 Looby, by Bright’s Arabian, out of a Partner 
 Mare; Mr. Panton’s ches. H. Partner, by the 
 Lonsdale Arabian, out of a sister to Bonny 
 Black. The betts were 2 to 1, the field against 
 Shakespear. 
 
 1st. Heat. Shakespear took the lead, and 
 supported it at his usual deep rate, thro’ the 
 furzes, to the top of Choakjade, with Looby in 
 
 his 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 49 
 
 his quarters all the way; but, in coming* down 
 the hill, he ran up to him, and they disputed the 
 lead every inch, to the three mile post, where 
 Looby gain’d about half a length, and kept it, 
 till they came over-against the Well Gap; but 
 before they reached the distance post, it was 
 impossible to discern which was first, and they 
 ran in so close together, that it could not be 
 decided which won. Partner laid by, pull'd 
 up, and walk’d in. 
 
 2d. Heat. Partner made all the play for the 
 first two miles; and Looby, perceiving that 
 Shakespear did not intend to call upon him, 
 begun to be very busy along the ditch, and 
 gave him so much trouble upon the flat, that 
 just as they enter’d the cords, they were both 
 at laps, and ran it every yard in; but Looby 
 being distrest by the severity of this and the 
 first heat, was forc’d to submit to his adversary, 
 though with great honor, by half a neck. This 
 rais’d the odds to 3 to 1 Shakespear did not 
 
 win; which were accepted by the judicious 
 
 part 
 
50 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 part of the turf, who relied on the Godolphin 
 blood, and the honesty of the True Blues. 
 Shakespear went away briskly the 3d Heat, 
 closely pursu’d by Partner, while Looby lay 
 too far behind to profess disputing this heat, as 
 he had bravely done the two first. They were 
 now in the third mile, and Partner had never 
 attempted to take the lead; for, as he was con¬ 
 scious he had the foot, though not the stout¬ 
 ness of Shakespear, he intended to reserve his 
 push as long as possible; but Shakespear being 
 aware of that, and trusting to his bottom, be¬ 
 gan to make running as he crost the ruts, and 
 display’d all his power upon the flat with good 
 resolution: but could not conquer his adver¬ 
 sary, till the rising ground from the distance 
 to the winning post, by means of his superior 
 strength, declar’d the contest in his favour, by 
 half a length, hard run. This brought the betts 
 to even money, Shakespear against the field. 
 
 The 4th Heat they all jump’d off at score, and 
 ran the first two miles as if they intended to 
 
 tear 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 51 
 
 tear one another to pieces; they then slackened 
 their pace, and came gently together to the flat, 
 when they ran at the top of their speed above 
 half a mile, in which they prevail’d by turns; 
 whilst new wagers echoed from the Betting 
 Gap and cords every moment. And now 
 Shakespear having indulg’d a little pull, in order 
 to have something in hand at coming in, was 
 thrown two lengths behind, and the other two 
 continued close together, stuck and cut every 
 yard, when he made a loose, as his last effort, 
 and catch’d them within twenty yards of the 
 ending post, dead run, and their riders almost 
 exhausted; when Partner broke down, and 
 Looby yielded the victory, scarcely by half the 
 head, and with it his life, for he died immedi¬ 
 ately after the heat. 
 
 “ The weather is extremely fine, abundance 
 of good company, and the battle was so equal, 
 that the vanquish’d disdain’d to mourn, and 
 the victor refus’d to triumph. 
 
 S 
 
 Entered 
 
52 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 Entered, for the Mare's Plate to-morrow . 
 
 Juliet, full sister to Shakespear. 
 
 Cordelia, by Cyprus, out of Bonny Black. 
 
 Violante, by Bay Bolton, out of a Snake Mare. 
 
 Camilla, by the Curwen b. Barb, out of Roxana’s dam. 
 
 Rosalinde, by Childers, out of Brockels by Betty. 
 
 And my ches. Mare, Arethusa. 
 
 “ The chief betts at present are; even money 
 my mare and Juliet against the field. They are 
 all in fine condition, and it will undoubtedly 
 be a smoking heat, for I shall order my mare 
 to go off at score, and run it every yard; you 
 know she ll come through without a pull. As 
 soon as the battle is over, I’ll send you an ac¬ 
 count of the victory by Tom, and am extreme¬ 
 ly sorry that your indisposition detains you 
 from your favourite diversion, the turf. 
 
 “ Hannibal is fallen lame, and your horse will 
 win hollow on Saturday. Victim has paid for¬ 
 feit to my young horse, and I have match’d 
 him with Pluto for a thousand.’’ 
 
 OBSERVATION. 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 53 
 
 OBSERVATION. 
 
 \ 
 
 This was a race indeed, and worthy recording in my 
 Annals. Many thanks to the Correspondent who com¬ 
 municated it. 
 
 G. G. 
 
 LETTER THE THIRTEENTH 
 To G. Gambado, Esq. 
 
 Good Sir, 
 
 I am in great haste, having a great 
 quickness of pulse, and my bed being now 
 warming; but cannot get into it without in¬ 
 forming you how fast I came home from Market 
 to-night, and upon my old Mare too, who was 
 always unkind before as to going. But so it 
 happened. The old Mare, that I could never 
 get to go above three miles an hour, as soon as 
 ever I was up, set off, and the devil could not 
 stop her till she got home—ten miles in about 
 58 minutes. I’m in a sweat yet. But I have 
 
 found out her motive, and now the Public may 
 
 make 
 
54 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 make use of it—I had bought a couple of lobsters 
 to carry home, had their claws tied up, and put 
 one in each of my great coat pockets—Well, 
 the old gentleman in my right pocket (a cun¬ 
 ning* one, I warrant him) somehow or another 
 contrived to disengage his hands, and no doubt 
 soon applied them to the old Mare’s side, and, 
 I imagine, had got fast hold of a rib by the time 
 I reach'd the 1st mile-stone; for she was mad 
 I thought, and my hat and wig were gone in a 
 twinkle—(a wig made by the man who adver¬ 
 tises they never fly off the ears—a rascal—wigs 
 may now be universally complained of). How¬ 
 ever, when I got off, and had taken a little 
 % 
 
 breath, I went into the kitchen to unload, but 
 mist one of my lobsters; so I run back into the 
 stable, and there was the hero hanging at the 
 old Mare’s side: she’d had enough of it, and so 
 stood quiet. I eat the soldier to-day, and had 
 like to have died of laughing the whole time. 
 Now, don’t you think a lobster might turn to 
 account where a horse is a little dull or so— 
 
 mind 
 
N O N 0 U O SKI) Q U OMGDO 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 ‘ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 . , 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 55 
 
 mind me—if one of these fellows is not worth 
 more than a dozen pair of Mr. Moore s best 
 spurs—I’m a Dutchman—for I have wore out 
 a dozen upon the aforesaid mare in the course 
 of the fifteen last years. Its easily done, only 
 putting no handcuffs on them, and they’ll 
 soon go to work and do your business. Pray, 
 Sir, don’t you think they might be of use to 
 the light dragoons? 
 
 I thought myself bound to inform you of 
 this, as hoping it would prove a great national 
 discovery: I mean to keep lobsters on pur¬ 
 pose, for its cheaper than buying a horse in¬ 
 stead of my old mare; and I can go faster with 
 one of them in my pocket than I could post. 
 When my boys come home from school, to 
 hunt in the forest, I mean to treat each of 
 them with a crawfish for his poney, and then, 
 I think, we shall head the field. 
 
 I am. Sir, yours, ever in haste, 
 
 Peter Puffin. 
 
 T 
 
 LETTER 
 
56 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 LETTER THE FOURTEENTH. 
 
 Mr. Gambado, 
 
 I have just received the inclosed 
 letter. As it seems worthy publication, I beg 
 you would insert it in the Annals of Horse¬ 
 manship, which I hear you are going to bring 
 out. 
 
 I am your humble Servant, 
 
 R. Tattershall. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 As I cannot conveniently attend 
 in person at your celebrated Repository at 
 London, and being in great want of such a 
 kind of horse, as I shall specify below, and as 
 I presume in your own Stud you have more 
 than one, such once victorious Steed on the 
 Turf, though superannuated for the Race, yet 
 
 capable 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 57 
 
 capable of easy Road exercise (and the Writer 
 here pretends to be as good an Horse-master as 
 any in the Universe), I confide on your sup¬ 
 pos’d candour to excuse this liberty, after much 
 debating in my mind to write immediately to 
 yourself (having* heard last summer Mr. Score, 
 a Flint-merchant, speak much to your praise, 
 who dines, he said, often at your Ordinary). 
 I hope, therefore, you will indulge a Stranger’s 
 request, as most probably you may have such 
 a Steed (in your own Stud) to dispose of; 
 which will be esteemed a singular favour to 
 your unknown, at present, though 
 
 Very humble Servant, 
 
 Samuel Langley, (D. D.) 
 
 Wanted an Horse, M. or G. of size and strength, that 
 has figured on the Turf, that will be sold cheap, as being 
 in years, but not past gentle road use, perfectly quiet and 
 temperate, whose paces are smooth and easy to the Rider, 
 and free from all vice. 
 
 P. S. If 
 
58 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 P. S. If an Horse be recommended, I had rather he had 
 covered, if he will be ridden on the road in company with a 
 Mare, and be quiet as a Gelding. But I shall not approve 
 of one either blind, lame, or broken-winded. Stiffness at 
 starting I shall not regard it, nor his Age, though in his 
 Teens, if his constitution be good, and he can feed well, and 
 yet go well, and safely to the Rider. 
 
 A line (and I pray such compliments may be speedily 
 vouchsafed me) of the Size, Age, Pedigree, Colour, and his 
 Performances, with his lowest Price, will be immediately at¬ 
 tended to. If I approve of the account, and the terms, I 
 shall send to buy and ride him down. The distance is about 
 142 miles (measured), which he may perform, in 3 or 4 days, 
 as you shall advise. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Langley, 
 
 Check ley, near Cheadle, Staffordshire. 
 
 Checkley, May 14, 178p. 
 
 LETTER 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 59 
 
 LETTER THE FIFTEENTH 
 To Mr. Gambado. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I have long lamented that Riding 
 should be attended with such expence; and 
 see no reason why many articles attending it, 
 which cost money, might not as well be dis¬ 
 pensed with as not. If a Gentleman, when 
 his Bills are brought in, is somewhat put to it, 
 to pay for Hay and Corn (which, by the bye, 
 are necessary, or his Horses would be no better 
 than Jack-Asses), why should he be so very 
 extravagant in the article of Leather? Your 
 Gentleman now-a-days, must have to his bridle, 
 two head stalls, and two reins; to his saddle, 
 two flaps on each side, two girths, a crupper 
 or a breast-plate—perhaps both, not forgetting 
 a martingale, with its appendages. I have 
 actually seen a young Cockader, about town, 
 
 U with 
 
60 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 with a breast plate on his horse, that threw 
 his saddle forwards, merely to be tasty; whilst 
 his Companion's nag’, who slipt his girths, had 
 a crupper on like a Dragoon’s. But, Sir, these 
 Chaps are not confined to their expenditure 
 in leather—Only observe the buckles and 
 studs, &c. that ornament their trappings—Not 
 a bridle, but would furnish a dozen of knives 
 and forks—nor a saddle that has not a tea¬ 
 kettle and lamp upon it. 
 
 Our Forefathers never rode in this way, and 
 I am happy that I foresee a Revolution is at 
 hand. 
 
 It is needless to reprobate such expence, as 
 the Sadler’s bill probably brings in the punish¬ 
 ment along with it. 
 
 Whether Adam, or Cain, or Abel ever rode, 
 it does not appear; but they had Horses, and 
 Dogs, and 1 oxes, and Hares; and why are we 
 not to suppose that they went a hunting, and 
 had as good sport as we have (nay, better: for 
 they had no Huntsmen) ? They must, how¬ 
 ever. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 61 
 
 ever, have rode without saddles, it is pretty 
 clear. 
 
 I do not find that these superfluities were 
 held in much esteem in the time of the Ro¬ 
 mans. Raphael, in his picture of Atilla, at 
 Rome, has treated us with a Hun or two, rid¬ 
 ing after the fashion of their country, I sup¬ 
 pose. The devil a bit of a bridle have they— 
 nothing but a strap round their Horses neck, 
 which they hold at each end with their hands. 
 Nor are their Nags of the quietest either, but 
 seem to be shewing their agility and caprioles 
 to the best advantage. By no means such 
 Palfreys as either I, or you Mr. Gambado, 
 would like to bestride without a bridle, and a 
 good plain saddle too. 
 
 One Stanurtius (a very learned old Author), 
 tells us, that in his time, the Wild Irish (I 
 don’t understand how he distinguishes the 
 Wild Irish) used to ride in a strange way, but 
 you must admit they had no bridles. 
 
 “ Tubaram 
 
62 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 “ Tubaram setas, aut equorum auriculas senistra appre- 
 hendant; atque dum equi obstipis capitibus quieti se incli- 
 nant, equites, etiam loricis aut sagis amicti, mera corporis 
 agilitate se efferunt, divaricatriq! cruribus ephippia occu¬ 
 pant.” 
 
 Which may be thus turn’d into English— 
 
 44 They seize their Horses manes, or their ears, with their 
 left hand, and whilst their Horses were thus kept steady, 
 the Riders, even if covered with their cuirasses or sagums, 
 exerting a wonderful agility of body, spring astride into the 
 saddle.” 
 
 By this it appears to be very lucky, that 
 cropping Horses, was not then the fashion, or 
 they would have had but little command of 
 them. The Wild Irish now, I am told, have 
 reversed the mode, and taken up the tail in¬ 
 stead ot the poor ears, which are neglected. 
 
 The Tartars of this day, Mr. Gambado, have 
 no saddles, but ride upon a Beef Steak, or a 
 slice of Horse-flesh: which, by that means, be¬ 
 comes sufficiently done for them to eat, by the 
 time they have finish’d their airing. What a 
 
 delicious 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 63 
 
 delicious succedaneum for a saddle; it answers 
 two purposes at once. If a saddle ever an¬ 
 swers a second, it is, of galling* you con¬ 
 foundedly. 
 
 I have dropt a hint of a Revolution—and I 
 expect one. Let the Huns look to it; a suc¬ 
 cessful experiment of riding* in their way, has 
 lately been made in my country; but whether 
 from motives of oeconomy, curiosity, or emula¬ 
 tion, I am yet to learn. 
 
 Mr. John Mann, a most eminent Taylor of 
 Bury St. Edmunds, was one day observed to 
 mount his horse (which stood at the door of a 
 Gentlemans house in the neighbourhood) 
 when the hitt was out of his mouth, and, in 
 that manner, to proceed rapidly towards home. 
 My Informant followed him from curiosity; 
 and, from what he could observe, saw no al¬ 
 teration in his riding except that he reel d a 
 little at times, a circumstance exceedingly na¬ 
 tural; and although he had three turns to 
 
 make to the right, and two to the left, to 
 
 X thread 
 
64 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 thread the needle through some Mackerel 
 carts on the road, and a Water to pass; 
 (where, by the bye, he let his horse stop too 
 long*, and drink too much), yet he arrived safe 
 and sound at home. 
 
 Now considering* the five angles, the Mackerel 
 carts, and his not going over the bridge, which 
 was the right way; I question but such a per¬ 
 formance might have puzzled one of Attilas 
 fellows. 
 
 As bridles begin to shake, so I may well say, 
 saddles totter. The Tartars must not think 
 themselves the only Moderns who ride with¬ 
 out them. It was but two years since, at As¬ 
 cot Heath, that the thing was attempted and 
 atchiev d over the Course there. Two Gentle¬ 
 men rode a match, and, wonderful as it ap¬ 
 pear'd to modern Britons, one was seen to ar¬ 
 rive at the ending Post without his bridle, and 
 the other without his saddle. The latter 
 Gentleman had not even a Beef Steak to sit 
 upon, nothing but a pair of corderoys between 
 
 him 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 65 
 
 him and the Horse's back, the saddle following 
 him behind like a pillion. 
 
 By these proficiencies then let us hope. Sir, 
 we may knock off soon a very useless portion 
 of expence—overtake a Hun, and perhaps 
 catch a Tartar. 
 
 I am. Sir, 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 John Hickathrift. 
 
 MY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The extraordinary performances of the Wild Irish astonish 
 nobody. I had never heard of a Hun, when I read Mr. H.’s 
 Letter first, and thought he meant a Hum. This may be a 
 pretty way of riding, for any thing I know; but I am for a 
 bridle and saddle; and shall not grudge twenty pennyworth 
 of leather to make a martingale of, if it may save some ot 
 my teeth. Vale John Hickathrift. 
 
 G. G. 
 
 LETT Ell 
 
66 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 LETTER THE SIXTEENTH. 
 
 GEOFFREY GAMBADO, 
 
 EDITOR OF VARIOUS LEARNED PERFORMANCES. 
 
 SlRj 
 
 You have, no doubt, heard of a 
 description of Natural Philosophers, called 
 Pigeon Fanciers, who breed the bird of that 
 name, and all its varieties. I was once, Sir, a 
 member of this community, till growing tir cl 
 of Pouters, Tumblers, Nuns, Croppers, Runts, 
 &c. &c. I was resolved to enlarge my ideas, 
 by extending my researches, and abandoning 
 the Biped, to obtain a closer acquaintance 
 with the Quadruped, I became a Horse Fancier. 
 Being fond of riding, and daily observing, in 
 my airings to Brentford, a very great variety 
 of horses, and a still greater variety in their 
 motions; I some years since, set about mak¬ 
 ing; a collection of such as were singular, and 
 
 eccentric 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 67 
 
 eccentric in their shapes and actions, and flatter 
 myself no private museum can have boasted 
 of a more admirable variety, than I have pos¬ 
 sessed. I mean some day or other to class 
 them, and by so doing 1 , think I shall be able to 
 convince the Naturalists, that, from their form 
 and performances, many horses are allied to the 
 cow, and some to the hog* kind. In the mean 
 time, I shall just mention to you a few varieties 
 of this same animal, which I have had in my 
 possession; and which may, perhaps, afford 
 you an hour or twos amusement and reflec¬ 
 tion. 
 
 I luckily pick’d up a Daisey-cutter, by his 
 throwing me down on the smoothest part of 
 the grass, in Hyde Park. I had heard of this 
 description of horse frequently, but could not 
 believe the accounts of it, till I found it veri¬ 
 fied, by experiencing his accomplishments my¬ 
 self. It seems a problem difficult to solve, 
 how a horse can put forward his fore legs, 
 without bending a joint of them, or, how he 
 
 Y 
 
 can 
 
68 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 can meet with an impediment to throw him 
 down upon ground perfectly smooth!—but so 
 it is. The Daisey-cutter is admirably easy in 
 his motion, and having once made the experi¬ 
 ment, upon, and from his back, I am perfectly 
 satisfied, and now keep him for my wife’s own 
 riding. 
 
 Of this variety, there is still a variety: this 
 horse I likewise possess, and keep as a cu¬ 
 riosity. I imagine he must come from some 
 distant country, although he is nick’d after the 
 English fashion; for I cannot get any native 
 to ride him twice.—I have tried a Frenchman 
 with no better success. All declining a second 
 attempt. This animal resembles the Daisey- 
 cutter perfectly in the use of his fore legs: but, 
 instead of carrying his head and neck hori¬ 
 zontally, like him, they are raised so high, 
 that his ears are in a perpendicular line with 
 the pommel of the saddle, and his eyes always 
 fix’d on the heavens. His fore parts, when in 
 motion, by this means much resemble a double 
 
 fish- 
 
I 
 
 t 
 
 NON VI.SED S/F.J'E CAJDEN DO . 
 
 DEM 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 69 
 
 fish-hook, or an anchor, as thus 
 
 and I therefore propose to class him under one 
 of these denominations. 
 
 The Threatener is another of this species 
 that ought not to be forgot, and indeed he 
 seldom is by any one who has once possess’d 
 him. By the Threatener, Man himself, the 
 Lord of the Creation, who subdues all the ani¬ 
 mals that range the forest, is himself kept in 
 fear and trepidation. This ingenious animal 
 has the sagacity at every step to threaten the 
 fracture of his rider’s neck; probably with a 
 view to discourage and even abolish the custom 
 of riding in general: and at the same time the 
 good sense not to fall quite down, lest he should 
 accidentally break his own. As amongst pi¬ 
 geons, so amongst horses, there are Tumblers. 
 The feat is, however, performed differently, 
 and varies considerably in its effects on the 
 performers. As the pigeon executes this with¬ 
 out any thing on its back; so the horse seldom 
 
 atchieves 
 
70 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 atchieves it, without somebody upon liis. To 
 the latter therefore we must give the greatest 
 share of merit, who ventures to perform upon 
 a hard road what the other does only in the 
 air, without even a cloud to brush against. 
 The one preferring, it seems, the Milky, and 
 the other the Highway. 
 
 Amongst horses I have never discovered a 
 Pouter; but I have had a fine Puffer*. The 
 noise he made, however, and particularly when 
 at his business, was not pleasant; and I let a 
 neighbour have him cheap, who had a good 
 three-stall museum, and a very heavy vehicle 
 to draw; so that in all weathers he might en¬ 
 joy the entertainment of his very extraor¬ 
 dinary qualifications. 
 
 It is well known that there is a horse that is 
 a Carrier, so is there a pigeon likewise. But 
 as it may not be known to every one, I must 
 
 * The Puffer, if properly kept on plenty of hay and water, and with 
 little exercise, will in a short time gratify his Keeper by changing into 
 another variety, which we call a Roarer. 
 
 inform 
 

 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 71 
 
 inform you, Sir, that, from very long observa¬ 
 tion, I find the pigeon is the most expeditious 
 of the two. 
 
 I am at this moment, Sir, in possession of a 
 horse that has a Nose, if I may so call the sense 
 of smelling, in a high degree: I do not per¬ 
 ceive that he often hits upon game as the dog 
 does, but he makes for a stable door with great 
 avidity; nay, so certain is he of discovering* 
 where victuals and drink are to be had, that it 
 is with the utmost difficulty I can get him to 
 pass a sign-post; and it requires no small ex¬ 
 ertion of arms and legs to prevent his running 
 into every alehouse on the road with me. 
 These are evident signs of a very fine nose: it 
 is a little inconvenient, to be sure, particularly 
 if one is in haste; but the qualification is sin¬ 
 gular. This variety I shall call The Setter, 
 both from his possessing the faculties of the 
 dog so called, and from his proneness to set 
 down his load wherever entertainment for man 
 and horse are to be found. I shall not at pre- 
 
 Z • sent 
 
7 C 2 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 sent enter into more varieties, but postpone 
 my communications to another opportunity: 
 only having just touch’d upon the horse with 
 a Nose, I must inform you, that one of my 
 neighbours, an Attorney, tells me he has a horse 
 that has no mouth. Although my stalls are all 
 full, I shall certainly purchase this uncommon 
 animal, if he is to be had; as, from his forma¬ 
 tion, the possession of him can be attended 
 with little or no expence but the prime cost. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your very humble Servant, 
 
 Benj. Buffon. 
 
 LETTER 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 73 
 
 LETTER THE SEVENTEENTH 
 To Mr. GAMBADO. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Intending the following account 
 of a most extraordinary phenomenon that ap¬ 
 peared in our parish two days since, for the 
 Philosophical Transactions; I should not have 
 sent it to you, but that there was a horse con¬ 
 cern’d in it, and so strange a one, that I 
 thought that if you were not inform’d of it, 
 you would be concern’d yourself. 1 have 
 drawn it up to the best of my abilities. It is 
 as follows: 
 
 On the morning of the 6th instant, the wea¬ 
 ther intensely cold, the ground covered with 
 ice or frozen snow, as I may say, precisely at 
 the hour of eight, A. M. as Mary Jenkins 
 (who lives as servant at the Fox and Crown 
 public-house, just on the brow of Highgatc 
 
 Hill), 
 
74 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 Hill), a young* woman about nineteen years of 
 age, of a fresh complexion and sang uine habit, 
 was lying- awake in her bed (Reamur’s Ther¬ 
 mometer then standing at only and Fah¬ 
 renheit’s at ), she heard a shout of an un¬ 
 common kind; and running* to the window, 
 the following phenomenon presented itself to 
 her view. A man, drest much after the man¬ 
 ner of the English, but of a fierce and terrify¬ 
 ing aspect, seem’d to pass the Fox like light¬ 
 ning, mounted on something* like a horse; but 
 such a one as she had never before seen; hav¬ 
 ing the head, neck, and fore-legs of those of 
 this country; saving that the legs were stretch’d 
 out and void of motion; he was furnish’d with 
 a pair of wings, and his hind parts descended 
 from his head obliquely to the ground. She 
 verily believes lie had a forked tail, but that 
 hind-legs he had none. The man sat very stiff 
 and upright, and continued his shouts (which 
 from what I can make out from the Girl’s imi¬ 
 tations of them much resembled the war-hoops 
 
 of 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 75 
 
 of the Indians), until he turned the corner by 
 the Boarding-school, where she lost sight of 
 him. But he was again visible to her naked 
 eye at the foot of the hill; when some sleet 
 falling, he wholly disappeared. 
 
 The poor Girl, exceedingly terrified, awaken¬ 
 ed the family, and was order’d to go to Dr. 
 
 -, to take oath of what she had seen; 
 
 which she did. 
 
 Being one of the first who heard of it, I 
 bustled about, and got a good deal of informa¬ 
 tion concerning the progress of the phenome¬ 
 non, and think I can ascertain at about what 
 rate he travelled. 
 
 As the clock struck eight Mary Jenkins saw 
 him on the brow of the hill. 
 
 Mamselle Bellefesse, the Teacher at the 
 Boarding-school, being call’d up before her 
 time, and in a small building which looks into 
 the road just at the turn, her watch luckily by 
 her side, saw the strange gentleman pass, pre¬ 
 cisely at eight and three seconds. She describes 
 
 A a him 
 
76 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 him differently from Mary Jenkins, though 
 they both agree in the wings. “ II me sem- 
 “ bloit avoir le visage de Cupidon avec les ailes 
 “ de Psyche—says Mamselle de B. At eight 
 and six seconds the Blind Beggar, by his com¬ 
 putation, heard him pass the Cheese-cake House. 
 At eight and eight seconds A. M. the man 
 coming to sweep the chimneys met him at the 
 finger-post. In a second after, he knock’d 
 down and went over Alice Turner, the Saloup 
 Woman; and exactly at eight ten seconds, 
 Mary Jenkins saw the last of him. Now cal¬ 
 culating the seconds and the distances between 
 each spot where he was seen, it is evident he 
 went at a prodigious rate. Childers would 
 have been a fool to him. But he had wings, 
 indeed, which perhaps may be more useful 
 than hind-legs, otherwise I could not have 
 conceived it. 
 
 That there are horses of this kind in nature 
 
 * Which I learn means—He seem’d to have the face of Cupid and 
 Psyche’s wings. 
 
 I make 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 77 
 
 I make no doubt; as the Lords of the Ad¬ 
 miralty authorise us to believe it, by exhibit¬ 
 ing two in the front of their House of Office 
 at Whitehall. To these horses Mary Jenkins’s 
 seems to be nearly allied; and perhaps by en¬ 
 quiring at the Admiralty we may be inform’d 
 where they may be had. As we lye on the 
 great North Road, I should suppose this, that 
 came through our town, might be what they 
 call a sea-horse, and come from Lapland or 
 thereaway s. 
 
 If you can throw any light on this wonder¬ 
 ful phenomenon, Sir, I hope you will make it 
 public for the good of the community. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 Highgate, Feb. 26th. 
 
 William Gorget, 
 Surgeon . 
 
 P. S. I can’t get it out of my head the pace the Gentle¬ 
 man went, considering the interruption he met with from 
 riding over the Saloup Woman. 
 
 The Parish Officers had a long meeting about this strange 
 
 man 
 
78 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 man that shew’d his face here. But I soon convinced ’em 
 he had not staid long enough in the parish to gain a settle¬ 
 ment; and so they are easy. But there’s great debates in 
 the Vestry, and in the Coffee-house, and Mr. Figg’s shop, 
 yet about it. 
 
 MY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 I was much staggered when I read this account first; but 
 finding, on enquiry, that Mr. Gorget, the Surgeon, was a 
 Barber, I grew easier, and was no more afraid of the North 
 Road than any other—I shall however be a little more cauti¬ 
 ous of the folks that lye on it. 
 
 After all the investigations that have been made about 
 the Phenomenon of Highgate Hill, and the search into all 
 books that treat of Witchcraft; Glanville, and Moore and 
 Wanley: and after all the controversy that has been entered 
 into by the unhappy inhabitants, which has thrown that 
 wretched parish into more distraction than ever fell to the 
 share of St. Paul in Covent Garden! No Vagrants past on— 
 No Vagabonds taken up—No Turncocks to be found—all 
 the Water at a stop—all the Gin a-going—How satisfactory 
 must a glimmering of light be to these unfortunate High- 
 gates which may open their eyes a little, and restore that 
 
 harmony 
 
HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 79 
 
 harmony amongst them they have been so long unacquaint¬ 
 ed with. 
 
 Having received the following Letter a few days since, 
 I beg leave to recommend it to the perusal of the Nobility 
 and Gentry of Highgate in general; but more particularly 
 to Alice Turner (the Saloup Woman, if she is still extant), 
 to the Chimney Sweeper, the Blind Beggar (somebody must 
 read it to him), Mamselle Bellefesse, and Mary Jenkins; 
 being convinced, that if the strange personage they saw was 
 not Mr. James Jumps, it must have been a Conjurer or 
 Cupid, Psyche or the Devil himself. 
 
 G. G. 
 
 B B 
 
 LETTER 
 
80 
 
 ANNALS OF 
 
 LETTER THE EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 JEFFREY GAMBADO, Esq. 
 
 Kind Sir, 
 
 I have an extraordinary story to 
 tell yon, that happened to me t’other day as I 
 was a bringing two pair of stays to Miss Pliil- 
 pot’s at Kentish town. I lives. Sir, at Finch¬ 
 ley; and a-top of Highgate Hill my horse 
 makes a kind of slip with his hind feet, do 
 you see, for it was for all the world like a bit 
 of ice the whole road. I’d nothing for t but 
 to hold fast round his neck, and to squeeze 
 me elbows in to keep the stays safe; and, 
 egod, off we set, and never stopt till I got to 
 the bottom. He never moved a leg didn’t my 
 horse, but slided promiscuously, as I may say, 
 till lie oversate somebody on the road; I was 
 too flurrisome to see who; and the first body 
 
 I see d 
 
OSTEMDUNT TERRIS HUNC TA.NTU5A FATA JXFE Q U'E ULTRA ESSE K 1 M E N T 
 
HORSEMANSHIP 
 
 81 
 
 I see d it was a poor man axing* charity in a 
 hat. My horse must have had a rare bit 
 of bone in his back, and I sit him as stiff as 
 buckram. 
 
 Your Honour s obedient Servant, 
 
 James Jumps. 
 
 finis. 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. 
 
 1. Apotheosis of Geoffrey Gambado 
 
 2. Gambado seeing the World 
 
 3. The Puzzle - 
 
 4 . - for a Dog, Horse, or Christian 
 
 5. How to make the most of him 
 
 6. -the least of him 
 
 7. How to do things by Halves 
 
 8. Tricks upon Travellers - 
 g. Love and Wind - 
 
 10. Me, my Wife and Daughter 
 i 1. How to make the Mare to go 
 
 12. How to prevent a Horse slipping his Girths 
 
 13. How to ride without a Bridle 
 
 14. The Daisey Cutter .... 
 
 15. The Tumblers, or its Affinities 
 
 lb. A Horse with a Nose ... 
 
 17. How to travel upon two Legs 
 
 To front the Title. 
 
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 A ivhohon, Printer, Warner Street. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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