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 lONDONjPuFifti'd Sep^i',*178S byTV:DrCKI?!SON Eng-raver gr Printft'Uer NT15B BoiiriStreM. 
 
A N 
 
 ACADEMY 
 
 FOR 
 
 GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 THE COMPLETEST INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 FOR 
 
 WALKING, 
 TROTTING, 
 
 CANTERING, 
 
 GALLOPING, 
 STUMBLING, and 
 TUMBLING. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 WITH COPPER PLATES, A N D A D O R N E D WITH A 
 PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 By GEOFFRET GAMBADO, Efq-, 
 
 RIDING MASTER, MASTER OF THE HORSE, AND GRAND 
 EQJJERRY TO THE DOGE OF VENICE. 
 
 " To turn and wind a fiery Pegafus, 
 
 " And witch the world with noble Horfemanfhip." 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR W. DICKINSON, NO. 158, NEW BOND STREET ; 
 S. HOOPER, NO. 212, FACING BLOOMSBUJIY SQUARE, HIGH HOLBORX 
 AND MESS. ROBINSONS, PATER NOSTER ROW, 
 
 MDCCLXXXVII. 
 
Qj^.^O^^m^^^ldieyi'^^ga'/f^ ^^2^^^;%!^^ 
 
 ij/X^i'ct' 
 
. INTRODUCTION 
 
 J\n Academy for Growft Horsemen is the most riotously 
 humorous rare book about horses, riders, and equitation that 
 has come down to us. The first edition, of which this re- 
 print is a facsimile, was published in 1787. It was immedi- 
 ately popular from its first appearance. 
 
 The author, who wrote under the name of Geofirey 
 Gambado, was William Henry Bunbury, Baronet, of Barton, 
 Suffolk, and brother of Sir Charles, famous in the annals of 
 the Turf, as winner of the first Derby with Diomed, which 
 was brought out to this country and figures prominently as 
 a foundation sire in American thoroughbred families. 
 
 Writing of Bunbury's abilities as an artist and a humor- 
 ist. Sir Walter Gilbey in his work on animal painters says: 
 "Bunbury's strong point was undoubtedly the spirit and vi- 
 vacity he put into his work. He had also great fertility of 
 invention and wonderful power of hitting off the ludicrous 
 aspect of scene or incident." 
 
 Bunbury was Colonel of the First Suffolk Militia and 
 Equerry to the Duke of York. According to most accounts, 
 he spent the greater part of his time visiting friends at 
 country places and in fishing, shooting and riding to hounds. 
 
 His work as an artist was recognized by the first au- 
 thorities of his time. Sir Joshua Reynolds spoke highly of 
 him, and, when the conventional restrictions of being a great 
 painter became irksome, probably envied the carefree man- 
 ner in which Bunbury revelled in caricature. 
 
I NrRODUCriON 
 
 Bunbury kept up an intimate acquaintance with such 
 men as Goldsmith, Garrick, Benjamin West and Horace 
 Walpole. 
 
 A generation after the appearance of the ^Academy, or a 
 Httle more than a century ago, Dagley described it as pos- 
 sessing "strokes of exquisite humour." And, according to 
 the rules laid down by Gorse, whom Dagley ranked as first 
 among the graphic humorists of his time, the Academy, both 
 in illustration and in text, attains the highest standards of 
 caricature. 
 
 I feel confident that the two plates by Gordon Ross, 
 which have been added to the present edition, will be held 
 by all to be equal in every way to those of the author, and 
 far superior in their delineation of the horse. Mr. Ross has 
 an identical sense of humour with that of Bunbury, and it is 
 to be hoped that the day will not long be delayed when 
 the public will have something from his pen as well as his 
 pencil. 
 
 Owen Culbertson 
 
 Harvard Law Club 
 New York City 
 February^ 1929 
 
to THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 Lord Vifcount Townshend, 
 
 GENERAL of His MAJESTY'S FORCES, 
 
 And Colonel of the Queen's Regiment of 
 Dragoon Guards. 
 
 np O your Lordfliip, as com- 
 manding a regiment of ca- 
 valry, a Treatife of Horfemanfhip 
 comes immediately in the line of 
 your profeffion; I, therefore, hum- 
 bly conceive, that confideration 
 alone would authorife me with 
 
 pro- 
 
iv D E D I C J r I O N, 
 
 propriety to requeft your patron- 
 age and protection, for this my 
 adopted foundling ; to which pe- 
 tition I am further induced by the 
 patriotic hopes of being ufeful to 
 my country : for having with re- 
 gret obferved, that both your 
 Lordfliip, and the corps under 
 your command, if one may judge 
 by appearances, are totally igno- 
 rant of the graces and fuperior 
 advantages attending Mr. Gam- 
 bado's fyftem, I have flattered 
 myfelf, that on a perufal of it, 
 you will not only adopt it your- 
 
 felf, 
 
D E D I C A r I O N, V 
 
 felf, but alfo ufe your intereft to 
 introduce it into the fervice, — 
 What might not be expeded from 
 the Britifti Cavalry thus impro- 
 ved ? 
 
 I might here enter into a train 
 of common -place compliments, 
 and flourifh away on the laurels 
 your Lordfhip might by this means 
 gather, in addition to thofe al- 
 ready acquired; but I will not 
 offend your delicacy : befides, 
 laurel is a tree not cultivated in 
 thefe piping times of peace; I 
 fhall therefore conclude this epif- 
 
 A tie, 
 
vi DEDICATlOJsr. 
 
 tie with my fincere wiflies, that 
 your Lordfllip may long, very 
 long, in health and fpirits, enjoy 
 your BAYS. 
 
 With the greateji Refpe6l^ 
 Tour L o R D s H I p'j 
 Moft obedient 
 
 Humble Servant ^ 
 
 September ifl:, 
 1787. 
 
 The Editor* 
 
The Editor has to lament 
 that the firfi pages of our Author's 
 work^ are amongfl thofe mijfing^ but 
 as the Author himfelf in his Preface^ 
 feems to have arranged his firing of 
 infiru6iions^ the Editor thinks himfelf 
 jufiified in placing thofe firfi that re- 
 late to the choice of a horfe. 
 
,^'tfiieiK s^eaiiy,^^ 
 
 c/b/^ c^yY^^^^^^.lO'n'C^^^^xiy'^^^^^ 
 
 oMC/.9£^ 
 
FRAGMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 ^ I ^HERE needs no apology for 
 putting forth this Httle vo- 
 lume ; there would, on the other 
 hand, need many for with-holding 
 it from the publick. Philanthropy 
 has induced me to make known 
 to the world, the following rules ; 
 by obferving which alone, horfe- 
 manfhip may become a fafe and 
 
 B 2 pleafmg 
 
vi FRAGMENT of 
 
 pleafing amufement : and I doubt 
 not, but every true judge of the 
 noble art, will acknowledge the 
 excellence of my inftrudions; and 
 every true lover of it applaud my 
 public fpirit, in circulating them 
 abroad for the benefit of mankind 
 at large* 
 
 %¥• '^ ^ tV '^ -TV" •R' , - 
 
 I have had fome difficulty in 
 fixing upon a title for my work : 
 A Vade Mecum is quite hacknied 
 out : A School is become of late 
 years, a term, entirely applied to 
 comedies ; and for Every Man his 
 own Horfeman^ an ingenious pro- 
 
 fefTor 
 
THE Author's Preface. 
 
 Vll 
 
 feflbr in Dublin aflured me, it was 
 a bull. 
 
 I have therefore adopted Aca- 
 demy; I think it is happily cho- 
 fen, properly expreffive, and has, 
 I think, been affixed to but one 
 work of genius, viz. The Acade- 
 my of Compliments, a publica- 
 tion, which, thanks to our prefent 
 politenefs, is now fcarcely remem- 
 bered. 
 
 The Academy for grown Horfe- 
 men, is a work that has coil me 
 much labour, and the application 
 of fome years, to complete. But 
 when I confider the vaft utility it 
 
 may 
 
viii FRAGMENT of 
 
 may be of to my fellow creatures ; 
 that they are to profit by it, and 
 not myfelf : 
 
 *' Sic vos non vohis^ fertis aratra boves,'''* 
 
 I flatter myfelf I have not wafl:ed 
 the midnight oil in vain, '^ and I 
 look with pleafure on my book, 
 giving it to the world with the 
 fatisfaftion of a man who has en- 
 deavoured to deferve well." May 
 many be the necks it preferves for 
 nobler purpofes. 
 
 am happy in having met with 
 an artift, who has illuftrated my 
 ideas of horfemanfhip completely 
 
 to 
 
THE Author's Preface, 
 
 IX 
 
 to my wifhes, and I here beg leave 
 thus publickly to acknowledge my 
 obligations to him. 
 
 ^ ^ W ^F 
 
 As I fhall be as concife and ex- 
 plicit as poffible, in the valuable 
 inftruftions and difcoveries I am 
 now about to communicate to the 
 world ; it will be the reader's own 
 fault, if he does not profitably be- 
 nefit by them. When I have told 
 him how to chufe a horfe, how to 
 tackle him properly, in what fort 
 of drefs to ride him, how to mount 
 and manage him, how to ride 
 him out, and above all, how to 
 
 ride 
 
X F R A G M E N T, £^r. 
 
 ride him home again ; if he is 
 not a complete horfeman in the 
 courfe of ten or a dozen fummers, 
 
 I will be bold to foretell, that 
 neither the ikill of Mr. Aftley, 
 nor the experience of Mr. * John 
 Gilpin, will ever make him one. 
 
 *^k. jib. jUt jUfr Jik. 
 
 ^ ^ ■fr ^|v "W 
 
 cc 
 
 iV77 defperandum^ me duce. 'Teucro.^'* 
 
 - i* 
 
 * Mr. John Gilpin. . The author mentions John, to 
 diftinguifh him from William. Both thefe gentlemen 
 are elegant and enlightened travellers, and have publifhed 
 each their tour : — John, his to Edmonton, in 1782 ; ^ — 
 William, his to Cumberland, in 1786. 
 
 A N 
 
THE 
 
 EDITOR to the READER. 
 
 T is to the fame propitious flats, which re- 
 fcued the creatures with the craws from per- 
 dition, that we are indebted for the recovery of 
 the fragments that compofe this moft invalua- 
 ble w^ork. Fortune indeed was moil lavifh in 
 her fmiles upon the Editor, by throwing at once 
 before his fight, in an obfcure alehoufe near Lime- 
 houfe Hole, on their firfl landing, the moil ex- 
 traordinary bipeds that perhaps ever vifited this 
 country ; and to his much greater ailoniihment, 
 fome manufcript ilieets of his unfortunate friend, 
 Mr. Geoifrey Gambado. 
 
 On comparing notes (by figns) with thefe ul- 
 tramarine beings, he concluded, and with much 
 reafon, that the abovementioned ilieets were 
 
 B thrown 
 
xu 
 
 rhe EDITOR to 
 
 thrown over board by the author (in hopes 
 mankind might yet profit by the recovery of 
 fbme of them) at the moment the veffel that 
 contained him, was going to the bottom j which 
 it is well known was the cafe, in the Gulph of 
 of Venice, a few days previous to the catching 
 of the Craws j and in this furmife he foon found 
 he was nearly right. 
 
 Two particular circumftances muft yet be no- 
 ticed. The title page ftiles Mr. Gambado Mat 
 ter of the Horfe, Riding Mailer and Grand 
 Equerry to the Doge of Venice ^ and fo in truth 
 he was appointed in the year of our Lord 1785. 
 
 Living in the habits of intimacy with him 
 that the Editor did, he is competent not only 
 to decide what his views were, but what were 
 his fentiments of the Equeftrians of his own 
 country, previous to his embarkation for Italy. 
 
 That he held in utter contempt the mode of 
 riding commonly adopted in England, was ob- 
 vious. 
 
the READER. xiii 
 
 vious, from his never riding like any body elle j 
 and upon the Doge of Venice honouring him 
 with the above appointments (and honorary it 
 was fuppofed they were only meant to be) h^ 
 was fo elated, that he inftantly packed up a port- 
 manteau, bought two faddles, as many bridles, 
 fix pair of fpatterdafhes with fpurs affixed, a 
 large roll of diaculum plaifter, two pair of patent 
 ftirrups, with his MSS. works, (and providentially 
 a few drawings from which the plates in this little 
 volume are engraved) j and in a few hours put 
 himfelf on board a vefTel for Triefle, which failed 
 immediately, and was loft a few leagues from 
 Ragufa. A failor (one of the few that efcaped 
 by putting himfelf in a fiOi-kettle, and tying it 
 round his middle, having previoufly painted it 
 *green) has informed the Editor, that he faw the 
 laft of Mr. Gambado j and his end was as fingular 
 
 * It is imagined Mr. L\inardi has fallen in with this man. ' 
 
 A^. B. Not into the Sea. 
 
 B 2, 2S 
 
XIV 
 
 The EDITOR to 
 
 as his life had been. The veffel being expeded 
 to go to pieces every inftant, he drank a quart of 
 hot punch, and came coolly on the deck , and 
 having firil: called up all the fortitude he was 
 able, he next called up his fervant with all the 
 faddles and bridles that could be got 5 and hav- 
 ing mounted himlelf on the largeft, and taking 
 a bridle in one hand, and a paper cafe in the 
 other, delired to be thrown into the lea. This 
 was complied with, but the informant adds, that 
 the boatl\\^ain being fomewhat defirous to fave 
 his life likewife, haftily jumped up behind the 
 unfortunate Gambado, and he apprehends that 
 the faddle, although new and large, was not maf- 
 ter of his additional weight, for it dropt with 
 fuch precipitancy as to throw our Author out of 
 his feat, and his foot catching and hanging in 
 the *ftirrup, foon put an end to his mortal ca- 
 
 * His patent ftirrups were probably packed up, or the Author would 
 at leaft, have had a fwim for it. 
 
 reer. 
 
the R E A D E R, xv 
 
 reer. And it mufl be confelTed that he made 
 his exit en par fait cavalier-^ and an honour to 
 his leather he was.* The boatfwain was faved 
 by laying fafl hold on the crupper. 
 
 The Editor (belides the friendfhip he enter- 
 tained for this great man), cannot help thinking 
 it is a thoufand pities, he fhould have been loft 
 in fb foolifh a manner. But liich was his rapture 
 at the honours conferred on him by the Doge, 
 and fuch his dilguft for Britifh horfemanfhip^ 
 that delicacy reftrained his friends from ac- 
 quainting him there was no fuch a thing as 
 a horfe to be found in all Venice j and yet 
 they have not a doubt, if he had been apprized 
 of this circumftance in time, he never would 
 have embarked for that capital at all. 
 
 When the Craws were firft picked up in their 
 pleafure-boat, it was obferved they were all over 
 
 * An honour to his Cloth — is applied to many a drunken Parfon ; 
 and I do not fee why. To Geoffrey, Leather is more fuitable. 
 
 white 
 
xvi The EDITOR to 
 
 white patches ^ upon examination it appeared 
 that they were fheets of paper artfully feftened 
 round them with firings of fea- weeds, and the 
 failors, from the impulfe of curiofity, lifting fome 
 of them up, difcovered hand- writing underneath. 
 It (hould feem that thefe modeft creatures had 
 undoubtedly picked up- the papers floating on 
 
 the liirface of the ocean, and converted them 
 to the fame ufe our firft parents did the fig 
 leaves. This is however but a conjecture of the 
 Editor; who certainly met with the fragments 
 of his friend's intended book, in the fame place 
 where he firft faw the Craws, and where he was 
 told the circumftance of their having worn them. 
 It is left to the deeper fearchers into the won- 
 ders of nature (and who are now puzzling to 
 relblve from whence the ladies and gentleman 
 now lodging at Mr. Becket's, the trunk^maker, 
 in the Haymarket, can poffibly come); to de- 
 termine whether the prefervation of the following 
 
 fheets, 
 
the READER, 
 
 xvii 
 
 fheets, is owing to an innate modefty in the 
 creatures with monflrous craws, or to their na- 
 tural admiration for learning, and a wifh to pre- 
 ferve fheets, although adorned with charadters to- 
 tally unknown, and unintelligible to them. 
 
 It was necelTary for the Editor to explain how 
 he came poffefled of the few materials that corii- 
 pofe this work. Having done this, he has only 
 to add, that he has recovered a part only of the 
 Author's preface, a few drawings, Ibme notes, 
 an anecdote of two, and about twenty pages of 
 inftru6lions to grown horfemenj but fo broken 
 and unconnedled, that had he attempted the 
 putting them together, he muft have formed a 
 book of his own : Having however, a thorough 
 fenfe of the fuperior abilities of the original Au- 
 thor, 
 
XViH 
 
 The E D I 1' O R to 
 
 thor, he wifhes rather to give them to the pub- 
 lic in fcraps as he received them, but arranged to 
 the beft of his ability. And he may be bold to 
 add, that as morgeaus choice as thefe, would not 
 fall every day into their mouths, were they to 
 hold them inceilantly open, the public will iwal- 
 low them with avidity, and digeft them, either 
 immediately, or at their leifure. 
 
 The notes that are preferved, are written in a 
 hand unknown to the Editor, and are evidently 
 the remarks of fome good-natured friend of Mr. 
 Gambado. By the ingenuity of many of them, 
 and their peculiarity of llile, they bear ftrong 
 marks of the mafterly pen that produced the an- 
 notation to the firfl: editions of Mr. Bell's Shake- 
 fpeare. The portrait of the Author, prefixed, 
 is engraved from a -drawing by another of his 
 friends, done from memory; it is like, but a 
 likenefs that tinctures of the prejudice of friend- 
 fliip. Jeffery was not fo Aim, nor was his eye 
 
 fo 
 
the R E A D E R. xix 
 
 fb poignant; nor was he ever known to be pof- 
 lefled of a pair of boots himfelf, though he often 
 mentions boots in his writings. 
 
 Of late years, many portraits of celebrated men 
 have been given to the public from memory : 
 Mr. Mafbn has favoured us with a moft formida- 
 ble likenefs of Gray the Poet ; another eminent 
 writer has treated us with one of the noted 
 Charles Price ; and we are now furnifhed, with 
 by no means, a finall refembiance of Jefiery 
 Gambado. 
 
 Of Jeffery, or as he himfelf defired it to be 
 wrote, Geoffrey Gambado, little is known of the 
 defcent : but that his father was a taylor, he him- 
 felf has alTured me, and that he lived in Devon- 
 fhire is no lels certain. Being a prodigious horfe- 
 man (his cuftomers living all at a confiderable 
 diftance from him) I make no doubt but it was 
 in allufion to him, that the term of " riding like 
 
 G a taylor" 
 
XX rhe E D I T O R, &>c. 
 
 a taylor" took its rife. A term ftill particularly 
 applicable to the natives of that county. 
 
 The inhabitants of Yorkfhire and the vicinity 
 ©f Newmarket may turn it into ridicule if they 
 pleafe, but it was meant as highly complimentary 
 and honourable to that valuable body of men. 
 Was not the flying highwayman a taylor ? were 
 not three parts of General Elliott's dragoons, 
 taylors ? and was not he who made that danger- 
 rous excurfion to Brentford, a taylor ? 
 
 We are told in a preliminary advertifement to 
 the Tale of the Recefs, that " the breaks in the 
 flory only tend to heighten the pathetic." A 
 hope attends the editor, that the breaks in the 
 enfuing work will only ferve to give the reader a 
 greater relifh for what remains of it, and prevent 
 the glut generally accompanying " too much of 
 a good thing." 
 
 A N 
 
Ojt LnuoUury. C^ "V 
 
 tJ/ie f^/P^^^z/ce/n ■ p, ' Vo-^urTt/^ 
 
 LONDON,Publi<li'd-iuno aj'.i.-'i; by W.DICKINSON Bond Street 
 
A N 
 
 ACADEMY 
 
 FOR 
 
 GROWN HORSEMEN 
 
 TH E World has been fo long mifled by 
 die falfe notions of Horfemanfhip adopt- 
 ed, and induftrioufly circulated by Newcaftle, 
 La Foffe, Pembroke and Berenger ^ fo infatuat- 
 ed by the fantaftick tricks of Sir Sidney Mea- 
 dows, and fo blinded by the airy coolnefs of a Per- 
 cival and his imitators, that it may poffibly prove 
 a difficult tafk to convince any one perfcn in 
 this wrongheaded age, that the theory pf the 
 
 C 2 ■'].•>. 
 
AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 firfl mentioned gentlemen, and the praftice of 
 the latter, are entirely founded in error, and 
 calculated merely to break the necks of his Ma- 
 jefty's moft faithful fubjedls. 
 
 I fhall endeavour to prove, and I flatter my- 
 felf to convidion ; that the above mentioned 
 authors are grolsly miftaken in all their opinions 
 upon the noble art and fcience of horfemanfhipf 
 that even their ideas of the proud animal himfelf 
 are partial and ill-founded 5 that the French Par- 
 rocel, and the Flemifh Wouvermans, drew luch 
 horfes as never exiftedj and that when we do 
 meet with a horfe, that in the leaft refembles 
 their defigns, he is bad and dangerous in the 
 
 extreme. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 It is a melancholy truth, that our breed of 
 horfes is terribly degenerated, but indeed the na- 
 tional tafle is fallen ofF proportionably j nothing 
 now is to be feen but bred horfes j every ap- 
 prentice 
 
?£d ^/ J^/<wd. 
 
 W&T/^ ,^c^/u 
 
 LON D ON,Publifli'd Aug i '\r;6~, by ■'.v:-n i CK rNSORKnf;ra.v(?r& Printfeil tM-N"1.^8 Bond Street . 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 3 
 
 prentice muft beftride a bit of blood. A bit of 
 blood ! and well may they be termed fo, for nei- 
 ther flefh nor bone have they to boafl: of 
 
 ******* 
 
 There is indeed one breed of horfes Hill extant, 
 which might, and indeed ought to, be brought 
 into more play. I mean what is vulgarly called 
 the dray-horfe. * This, I profefs, is a noble ani- 
 mal, and admirably calculated to make a figure 
 either on the road, or in the field. Scarce one 
 
 * Or rather ^r^-horfe. The moft ufeful animal in the creation, 
 and refpe£l:ed by all antiquity. His name is immediately derived from 
 the Greek verb Sfotic, i/e. iirao, to do or to work ; becaufe it was found 
 that he could do more work than any other horfe. The vehicle drawn 
 by him was alfo well known to the Greeks by the name of dray^ or 
 rather dra ; and it was in this carriage, and not in a waggon, as is vul- 
 garly fuppofed, that Thefpis carried his ftage and adors. Hence the 
 title of ^r^-ma and ^'•^-matic, univerfally applied to all theatrical pieces. 
 The Greek critics refer the invention of fuch works to the Doric tribes, 
 becaufe this very word c/rao was peculiar to the Doric dialed. If this 
 account be correct, thofe tribes were alfo, without doubt, the firft 
 breeders of dra-horfes ; an encomium of high value among a people 
 who derived many honourable epithets, as well as proper names, from 
 Ikill and zeal in breeding and managing horfes. 
 
 of 
 
4 A xN ACADEMY F O R 
 
 of them but is mafter of thirty ftone or. upwards. 
 What a fublime fcene would it be, to fee fourfcore 
 or a hundred of thefe animals on the full ftretch 
 over a piece of wheat, to catch fight of a hound. 
 It would require the pen of Homer to defcribe 
 fuch a fpe6lacle. 
 
 On the road, what dangers do we incur from 
 the weaknefs of our horfes ! The pitiful fpider- 
 legged things of this age fly into a ditch with 
 you, at the fight of a pocket handkerchief, or the 
 blowing of your nofe; whereas mount one of 
 thefe, and the world cannot alter your route : — 
 Meet a higler's cart, he will ftop it, either with 
 his own head or your leg ; fall in with a hackney 
 coach, and he will carry you flap dafli againft it. 
 
 * * * * * ^5 ^ purchafer, it is imma- 
 terial whether you go to Tatterfall's, or Al- 
 dridge's, to Meynell's Hunt, or his Majefty's, it 
 is probable you will be taken in wherever you 
 
 fYv'A W ''1^ W 
 
 To 
 
^/ CU / ? ^-Ci M^ 
 
 (7?t€y P^n^u /o Ji^< '^r 2/0^9 /Lom-L^ 
 
 /^ 
 
 .OVDOH,PubliaiVl Se?:l;I786 byW. M ; . -n K yoK Ea-ravei' &Print(e!lcr ?J? 158 Bond Street. 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 5 
 
 To define a perfed: horfe is nearly impoflible, 
 and to tell you where to buy one, completely fo. 
 However I fhall endeavour to defcribe fuch out- 
 ward beauties and active qualifications, as are re- 
 quifite to the compofition of one; and fhould 
 fuch a phoenix fall in your way (and the tafte of 
 thefe times are fo vilely perverted, I believe you 
 have a better chance at prefent than you would 
 have had fome years back) I hope you will not 
 let him flip through your fingers. 
 
 #^ i^ ^ dfc- -^ A. 
 
 ^F ^ ^F ftr ^ w 
 
 . The heighth of a horfe is perfedly immate- 
 rial, provided he is higher behind than before. 
 Nothing is more pleafing to a traveller than the 
 fenfation of continually getting forward j whereas 
 the riding a horfe of a contrary make, is like 
 fwarming the bannifters of a ftair cafe, when, 
 though perhaps you really advance, you feel as if 
 you were going backwards. 
 
 Let him carry his head low, that he may have 
 
 an 
 
6 A i^' ACADEMY FOR 
 
 an eye to the grijiindj and fee the better- where 
 he fleps. 
 
 The lefs lie lifts his fore legs, the eafier he will 
 move for his rider, and he will likewife brufh all 
 the ftones out of his way, which might otherwife 
 throw him down. If he turns out his toes as 
 well as he fhould do, he will then dilperfe them 
 to the right and the left, and not have the trou- 
 ble of kicking the fame ftone a fecond time. 
 
 #4fe. ^ Mt, ^^ ^t 
 
 w" ^ yfr ^ * ^ 
 
 A bald face, wall eyes, and white legs (if your 
 horfe is not a grey one) is to be preferr'd : aSj in 
 the night, although you may ride againft what 
 you pleafe, yourfelf j no one will ride againft 
 you. 
 
 His nofe cannot projeft too much from his 
 neck, for by keeping a conftant tight rein on 
 him, you will then fit as firm as if you were held 
 on. 
 
 A horfe's ears cannot well be too long : a ju- 
 dicious 
 
t c^cU ^f ^-^/^n/^ >!>(^ £3^(^ 
 
 London, rnblHhd Sep.r.lJ'lnbvW.lJICKrNSON Eng;rav(>r-frPrinU'eT.lerISl"15HBondSirei?i-. 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 7 
 
 dicious rider fleers his courfe, by fixing his eyes 
 between them. Were he cropt, and that as 
 clofe as we fometimes fee them now a days, in 
 a dufky evening the rider might wander the lord 
 knows where. 
 
 W * "l^ ff^ W tIp ^ ^ W"' 
 
 I have found many perfons who have purchafed 
 horfes of me, very inquifitive and troublefome 
 about their eyes; indeed as much fo, as if their 
 eyes were any way concerned in the aftion of the 
 animal. As I know they are not, I give mylelf very 
 litile trouble about them. If a rider is in full pof^ 
 ieffion of his own, what his horfe has, is perfe6L- 
 ly immaterial j having probably a bridle in liis 
 mouth to dire6i: him where to go, and to lift liim 
 up with again, if he tumbles down. Any gentle- 
 m^an chufing, indeed, to ride without a bridle, 
 fhould look pretty fharp at a horfe's eyes before 
 he buys him : be well fatisfied with his method 
 
 D of 
 
3 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 CI going, be very certain that he is docile, and 
 will flop fhort with a * " Wohey," and after ail, 
 be rather fcrupulous where he rides him. Let no 
 man tell me that a blind horfe is not a match for 
 one with the beft of eyes, when it is fo dark that 
 he cannot fee : and when he can, it is to be iup- 
 pofed the gentleman upon his back can, as well 
 as he j and then, if he rides with a bridle, what 
 has he to fear? I flatter myfelf, I have proved 
 as clear as day, that eyes are of little confequence j 
 and as I am, no doubt, the firft author that has 
 made it known, my readers, if they lofe no time, 
 may mount themielves at Aldridge's or the Rhe- 
 darium, as well, and for half the money they 
 would have done, before I let them into this 
 fecret. 
 
 * I have fearched Chambers and Johnfon for this Wohey ! but can- 
 not find him. I do not recoiled fuch a word in all Shakefpcare, and- 
 he dealt at large in the language. Neither is it to be met with in Mafter 
 Bailey's delicate Colledion of Provincialifms. What is Wohey ? 
 
 Be 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 9 
 
 ' Be lure to buy a broken knee'd horfe when- 
 ever he falls in your way : the bed bit of flefh 
 that ever was croiTed will certainly come down 
 one day or another ; whereas one that has fallen 
 (and fcarified himfelf pretty much) never will 
 
 again if he can help it. 
 
 Spavins, fplints, corns, mallenders, fallenders 
 
 ^c. &^c, being all curable, are beneath your no- 
 tice. A few of thefe little infirmities in your lia- 
 ble, is always a fubjed of converfation, and you 
 may, perhaps, now and then want one ; it will 
 likewife juftify you to your lady, in embellifh- 
 ing your bookcafe with Bracken, Gibfon, Bart- 
 lett and Griffiths ; excellent authors in their 
 way, and extremely ufeful ! for you will have no 
 occafion to be fending for an apothecary upon 
 every trifling ailment in your family, but will 
 know yourfelf how to make up a good flout and 
 efl!e6lual dofe.of phyfic for your wife or fervants, in 
 the goofeberry feafon, and at the fall of the leaf 
 
 D 2 I would 
 
lo A N A C A D E MY FOR 
 
 I would recommend a long tail, if it is to be 
 had for love or moneys if that is not to begot, 
 buy a horfe with a rat tail, if poffible j though 
 inferior in point of convenience to the former, 
 there is a je ne fgai quoi of comicality about it, 
 that inclines us to merriment whenever it makes 
 its appearance. There is one inconvenience at- 
 tending long tails in fiimmer (when the pocnr 
 animals have moft need of them) ^ and that is, 
 horfes full of grals are very fubjedl to fcourings 5 
 in this cafe ride your horfe with his tail in a bag, 
 or elfe he may annoy you. 
 
 *jit- ^fc jifc. 4fc- 
 
 "^ ^m" ^ "W 
 
 Having defcribed for my reader a horfe, and 
 I hope he likes him, I would fain form as com- 
 plete a horfeman, and having fo done, my ambi- 
 tion would be gratified, my end anfwered, and I 
 would never ride again myfelf, as long as I liv'd. 
 
 ,- .^ 4i(. 4to ^t- ^t ^^ ^t 4ik. dfe? 
 
 Few 
 
GROWN HORSE MN. n 
 
 Few writers on this iubjedl have thought it 
 neceffary to prelcribe iany peculiar mode of drefs 
 to equeftrians. I am fuch a zealot about the 
 propriety of their appearance, that I think too 
 much cannot be faid on the fubjedl. Heav'ns ! 
 how are the laws degraded fince the abolition of 
 full bottoms * in our Courts of Juftice : I attri- 
 bute the encreafe of thievery to it, and firmly 
 believe, that ten men are hanged for every inch 
 curtailed in a Judge's wig. 
 
 The Editor can only attribute the Angularity 
 of the ten or a dozen lines that follow, to their 
 having been written ^^r ^Z/?;?^/' j Mi;. Gambado 
 being fond of pufhing the bottle about brifkly. 
 
 * He might have added, how are our Ladies improved by the adop- 
 tion of them. 
 
 His 
 
12 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 His annotator feems to think the fame; indeed, 
 if he was the author's friend, he was a very 
 impartial one, for his criticifins pretty often bor- 
 der on the fevere. 
 
 Bias, I think it is, that obferves, the tout enfern- 
 bk fhould be attended to in every thing ; he ju- 
 dicioufly remarks, that a beautiful woman iil- 
 drefl: would be much better, undreft; and he 
 fays much the fame of rabbits and onions, but 
 I forget how he brings that to bear. The clear 
 headed reader will foon perceive I have an eye 
 at him ; and having provided him with a fteed, 
 I w^ould wifh to make his rider a match for him ; 
 for your rider is half the battle. * 
 
 Touching 
 
 * Was ever fo much abfurdlty crammed into fo few lines ! Our 
 
 author could not be, ipfe, he, when he wrote this ! Bias, talk French I 
 
 O coelum in terra ! and be a judge of a Lady's drefs too I and under- 
 
 " . , ' - ftand 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 13 
 
 Touching the apparel then, I will begin at 
 top. Wear a wig, if pofTible, and fhould you be 
 a fportfman, and hunt the * foreft, the larger and 
 whiter it is, the fafer for you : for fliould your 
 horfe prove, what is properly termed too many 
 for you, and make off^ nothing but the Angu- 
 larity of your appearance can reftore you to your 
 difconfolate family, f The hallooing and hoot- 
 ing of the boys that this will occafion, will en- 
 
 ftand cookery likewife ! Why, Mr. Gambado, you really endow him 
 with more talents than fell to -the lot of the admirable Crlchton ; and you 
 forget, do you, how he brings that to bear ? and fo do I too upon my 
 word. As to youi having an eye at the reader, I don't believe it: like 
 our honeft friend Homer, I fancy, this wzsyotir time, to have been put 
 to bed. 
 
 Half the battle, how vulgar I Our immortal bard, as they call him, 
 in his higheft vagaries never v/^sfo low as this I 
 
 * The flag hunt in Epping Foreft on Eafter Monday is fuppofed to 
 be the moft ftriklng an4 fuperb chafe in Europe. To this, the author 
 probably alludes. 
 
 •t The author is here philanthropically amiable ; and if the reftoring 
 a long loft huftjand to the arms of his ipoufe, has any claim to piibliG 
 reward, we fhould not grudge it a moment to liis white wig, whilft 
 we are lavifhingly beftowing it on ufelefs quackeries. 
 
 able 
 
14 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 able your friends to trace you through moil: of 
 the villages you may have pail; and at the word 
 to know, in what part of the country to have 
 you cried. 
 
 I never admired a round hat, but with a large 
 wig, it is infupportable; and in truth, a mofl 
 puerile ornament for the head of a fober m.an. 
 In windy weather you are blinded with it ; and 
 the ingenious artiil I have employed to deco- 
 rate this work with his defigns, has very for- 
 cibly pourtrayed the inconvenience, and even 
 danger of a hat of this fort, to a man of bufi- 
 nefs. * By a man of bufmefs is not meant a 
 Lord of the Treafury or a Commiffioner of Ac- 
 counts, but what is called on the road, a rider, 
 a bag-man or bagfter. 
 
 ■ * Would it be a very bold affertion to hazard, that, by a Lord of 
 the Treafury or a Commiffioner of Accounts is not meant a Man of 
 
 Bufinefs ? perhaps not. 
 
 A cock'd 
 
ȣ 
 
 
 
 LONDON.PubUCh'd Spp^l'iiyse Uy W.D I CKi Tv SGN T'ln-i-.-JveriSc Privitreller N^J5S Bond Street . 
 
 I £ ,./,.. ,'i..^ 
 
GROW N H O R S E M E N. jr. 
 
 J 
 
 A cock'd hat, befides this advantage over its 
 competitor, and the dignity it gives to the mofl 
 unhappy countenance, has fo many others, that 
 it is v/onderful to me, it is not univerfally worn, 
 but more particularly by equeilrians. If in w^indy 
 weather, you are blinded, in rainy, you are de- 
 luged by a round hat j whereas one properly 
 cock'd, will retain the water till you arrive at 
 your baiting place, and keep your head (which 
 riding may have heated) agreeably cool j having 
 much the fame elicct en it, that a pan of Vv^ater 
 lias upon a flower pot. 
 
 Let your boots be fomewhat fhort, and the 
 knees of your breeches but juil: reach the joint, 
 fo that the flap of your faddle (and obferve a Tin- 
 gle flapped faddle is the genteelefl) may be con- 
 tinually curling up, and chafing you between the 
 confines of the boots and breeches, bv which 
 
 E means, 
 
i6 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 means, you will be fatisfied that your leg is in a 
 proper pofition. 
 
 ^M- 
 
 Much of the author's friendly advice, as to 
 drefs, is wanting 5 but the editor recoUeds he 
 was a warm advocate for the riding in black 
 plufh breeches in fummer : and ever recom- 
 mended a coat of pompadour or fome con- 
 ipicuous colour, for the fame obvious reafon, 
 tliat he thought a large wig of fuch moment. 
 
 You may w^ar ipurs, if you are not afraid ^ 
 and the exercifmg them a good deal, will keep 
 your blood in proper circulation, and prevent 
 your toes from being cold. 
 
 Be 
 
GROW N H O R S E M E N. 17 
 
 Be very carefu! to fpur yoisr horfe in the 
 fhoulders only ; there he has mod: feeling, be- 
 caule he has moil veins ^ befides, by fpurring at 
 his body, five times in fix, your labour is loil 3 if 
 you are a fhort man, you fpur the faddle cloth j 
 if you are leggy you never touch him at all, and 
 if middling, you only wear out your own girths, 
 without your horfe being a bit the better for it. 
 
 Elegance of pofition is to be coniider'cl as 
 particularly eiTential to every gentleman that 
 appears on horfeback in publick. And I 1I12II 
 endeavour to point out, what more immediately 
 conftitutes it. 
 
 The mode of leaning the body pretty forward 
 over tiie pommel of the feddle, in a walk or a 
 trot, has been too little in pradile of late \"ear^;, 
 and it is hic^h time it ihould be revived. There is 
 an appearance of airineis in it, that embelliihes 
 the figure of a rider very much indeed 3 particu- 
 larly, if lie be mounted on a long backed hcrlc, 
 
 E ,2 who 
 
i8 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 who throws his Taddle well forward, and is unen- 
 cumber'd with a crupper : here, he exhibits an 
 elegant pi6lure of carelefs indifference, and feems, 
 contemptuoufly, to leave all the world behind 
 him. 
 
 By the bye, I have obferved many a worthy 
 citizen fent on a Sunday into Hyde Park, crup- 
 per'd up as tight as need be : but be very fhy 
 of a crupper, gentle reader, if your horfe natu- 
 rally throws his faddle forward. It will certain- 
 ly make his tail fore, fet him a kicking, and very 
 likely, bring you into trouble. Expert o crede. 
 
 If then, you bend your body well forward, your 
 rump flicking properly out behind, with your legs 
 projected, I fhall have hopes of you ; you cannot, 
 I think fail, of foon equalling my moft fanguine 
 expectations ; and, after having attained this 
 excellence (an excellence, let me tell you, arrived 
 at but by few, and thofe, men of the firil know- 
 ledge and fcience, fuch as the Fellows of Colleges, 
 
 the 
 
G R O W N H O R S E M E N. 19 
 
 the Livery-men of London, or, perhaps the crew 
 of a man of war) I would advife you, without 
 delay, to attempt another ftep towards equeftrian 
 perfection ^ that is, on riding either eaftward or 
 wefhvard, to make your toes point due north and 
 fouth, or vice verfa. 
 
 Thus your ipurs may be brought into pky, 
 with little or no exertion ^ and thus, in turning 
 fharp round a poft, your horfe may be prevented 
 from hurting himfelf by running againft it. * 
 
 The ftanding up in your ftirrups, whilft trot- 
 ting, in the above pofition, has a moft elegant 
 and genteel effe6l ^ and I would have you make 
 an effay to accomplifh it, no doubt you will iuc» 
 ceed, if you have- the genius I take you to have. 
 
 A horfe has various methods of getting rid of 
 his man j at prefent, I will only advert to one. 
 If your horfe tumbles down with you, he will 
 
 * More Phllaiithropj., 
 
 fometimes 
 
20 ANACADEMY FOR 
 
 fometimes get up again, and fhould you not do 
 the fame in concert with him, and your foot re- 
 main in the flirrup, he may probably extend 
 your airing whilft you remain in that aukward 
 pofition -J and however defirous you may be to 
 remain behind, on you mufl: go, during his plea- 
 iure. Now, of all the ways of conveyance that I 
 have had a tafle of, this is the leafl: agreeable 5 if 
 it fhould be the fame to you, provide yourfelf 
 with a pair of patent ftirrups ; with them, your 
 attachment to your horfe may be as fhort as you 
 pleafe j they have done wonders 5 can I fay 
 more ? I am happy in being able to bear tefti- 
 mony of their aftonifhing efficacy in the cafe of 
 
 a friend of mine, the Rev. Mr. C , A. M, 
 
 when of Pembroke College, Cambridge^ by 
 tranfcribing his own words at the conclufion of 
 an advertifement, he inferted in all the papers 
 addreiTed to the patentee. Having purchafed a 
 pair of his ilirrups, and falling, one afternoon, 
 
 as 
 
iOND OI^^lVbii<HHSep4'■^7861-lyV»:^Uc^:tl^! SON Bng-raverfcFiMtitfeUrrN"35yBorid street. 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 21 
 
 as he was accuftomed, from his horfe, he fays, 
 " but thanks to providence, and your noble in- 
 vention, my kg and your flirrup coming off at 
 the fame inftant, I efcaped unhurt." To what a 
 pitch of perfection is human ingenuity arrived ! 
 
 ******* 
 
 The being able to guide a horfe, is a matter of 
 fome moment on the road, though it may not be 
 fb any where elfe j and I would advife you always 
 to ride with a lafh whip ; it fliews the iportlman, 
 and will allift you much in your fteerage. If your 
 horfe bears too much to the right, of courfe you 
 drop the reins entirely on that fide, and pull them 
 up (harp with both hands, on the other ^ but if that 
 does not anfwer, you muil refer to your whip, 
 and a good fmart cut over his right cheek and 
 eye, will foon fet him ftraight again. This is the 
 mode you will fee adopted by every judicious 
 
 pig- 
 
22 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 pig-driver*5 and I am told, that a pig is eileemed 
 by judges, to be far more averfe to dire6t pro- 
 greffion, than a horfe. 
 
 Lucan informs us, that the MafTilians f rode 
 without bridles, and guided their horfes with a 
 iwitch ; 
 
 * A very /^-judicious remark this ; were a pig to be driven in a hard 
 and fliarp, or a Weymouth, and a horfe in a packthread tied to his hind 
 leg, it is a matter of doubt with me, whether the latter would drive fo 
 handy as the former. As pigs now can play at cards as well as horfes, 
 I think it is but fair to fuppofe them capable of dancing a minuet with 
 equal adlivity and grace : whatever Mr. i\fl:le}' may alledge to the con- 
 trary. The author is very hard upon pigs. 
 
 •f Ourauthor feerns fond of a bit of foreign language, his Latin, I fup- 
 pofe, he was fupplied with by the parfon of the parifh ; his French, I 
 kngw, he got from his father's journeyman, who (according to the old 
 man's own phrafe) was taught to dijlocate coats at Paris. The Mafli- 
 liaus are here lugged in, for the fake of the Latin verfes, or to cry down 
 the ufe of bridles ; but, as I am one, of thofe gentlemen, who had 
 rather ride zcj/V^ a bridle, than without one; and, as he muft ranfack 
 the blackguard clafficks for fcraps of quotations, I will meet him, and 
 as Sir Sampfon Legend fays in the play, " Try whether my blackguard 
 or his fhall get the better of the day.'' 
 
 " Equi fine froenis, deformis ipfe curfus pgida cervlce, et extento 
 capite, currentium."— — LiVy, B, 7, 
 
 <c 
 
 Et 
 
GROWNHORSEMEN. 23 
 
 " Et gens quae nudo refidens Maffilia doifo" 
 " Ora levi fledit, froenorum nefcia virga." 
 
 Luc. 
 
 " Without a bridle on the bare back," 
 
 " Make with a flick their horfe or mare tack." 
 
 Virgil fays the fame of the Numidians : 
 
 " Et Numidse infreni cingunt." 
 
 JEn. ^. 
 
 " See Numidians, on horfes unbridled ap- 
 proach." 
 
 Good riding this^ but as to the iwitch, I'll 
 maintain it, that a whole or a half hunter * would 
 be more efficacious j and as to the riding, good 
 as it is, if Julius Caefar did not cut out both 
 Maffilians and Numidians I'll be d — d ^ f and the 
 
 * Whips,- fo denominated. 
 
 -j- Heyday ! a new method this of laying, down t!ie law. If you go 
 on thus Mr. Author, the law will take you up in return ; and it will 
 coftyou fome (hillings before you come to the end of your book. 
 
 F reader 
 
24- AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 reader will agree with me, when I produce my 
 authority for his horfemanihip, which is no ieis 
 a charafter than Montaigne. 
 
 " On dit de Gsefer, qu'en fa jeuneffe, monte a 
 dos fur un cheval et fans bride, il lui faifoit pren- 
 dre carriere les, mains tournees dernierele dos."* 
 
 It is extremely wrong to put a gentleman on 
 a reflive horfe,f when he is going out on bufinefs, 
 or invited to dinner in the neighbourhood. In 
 the firft inftance, if a man is not pundual, his 
 credit is lowered j and making an apology for 
 his horfe will feldom be admitted j nor v/ill any 
 one make allowances for a guell:, if his horfe has 
 ftopt and turned round five thoufand times with 
 
 * " It is faid of Caefar, that in his youth, being mounted on a 
 horfe's bare back, and without a bridle, he cauld make him perform 
 his paces with his hands behind him." Montaigne. 
 
 + A ftrange epithet this, and I wonder who coined it ; tell me of 
 a rufly horfe, and I fhall know what it means,' for I know what rufty 
 locks are and rufty weathercocks. 
 
 him. 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 25 
 
 him, in five hundred yards, fhould the turtle 
 be Ipoiied, or the venifon over-' oalled. 
 
 In fuch cafes, gentle reader, I fhould difmount 
 and walk j but if you are averfe to that, and you 
 find that the beaft will not go forward, let him 
 have his whim, and go backwards, only take 
 care to point his head the wrong way * he will 
 carry you pleafant enough fo j but you muft keep 
 your own head well employed over both fhoul- 
 ders, or it may not anfwer at laft. 
 
 Be provided with a horfe block, it is a fine 
 affiftant in mounting, and I am amazed any 
 gentleman fhould be witho^it one. The only 
 danger I know attending it, is, that in your ea- 
 gernefs to mount, you may, by over-exerting 
 yourfelf, lole your equipoife, and pitch upon your 
 head on the off fide of your horfe. This hasfre- 
 
 * I clearly fee the author's meaning here'; if he travels backwards, 
 and the nag's head was the right way, he would never get his cfinner, 
 and it muft be wrong not to go when invited. Recle Domine. 
 
 F 2 quently 
 
26 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 quently happened to a friend of mine 5 but if 
 you are cool and temperate, you will take your 
 feat with eale and convenience. By mounting 
 thus, you avoid all danger of being kicked, or 
 bit which is more likely : as if you are a fhort 
 man, by ftretching out your toe, to get it fuffi- 
 ciently into the ftirrup, you are very apt to tickle 
 your horfe under the elbow, and he will then 
 infallibly attack you in the rear with his teeth. 
 Eeiides this manifeft advantage in a horfeblock, 
 it is a pretty airy ornament to the front of a 
 houfe, and moreover, fliews that the mafter of 
 it, is a horfeman ; which, let me tell you, every 
 man that lives by the road fide is not. A horfe 
 is fe)metimes fhy of thefe blocks, if yours fhould 
 be fc), tallc to him a little, fcratch his nofe, and 
 ufe fe)me gentle endearing method or other ^ and, 
 I believe, the beft of all is, to bid your foot boy, 
 who leads him up to it, give him two or three 
 fmart kicks in the belly on the off fide. 
 
 You 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 27 
 
 You are now mounted, and no doubt, anxious 
 to fet off: here then, obferve my advice. 
 
 Before ever your horfe gets into motion, clap 
 both your Ipurs into him pretty fharp : this will 
 fet him a going for the whole day, and fhew him 
 you have Ipurs on^ which, if he did not know, 
 he might incline to be idle. I do not think 
 there can be a more approved mode of fetting 
 off than this is, but I muft caution you, that the 
 furprize will generally caufe your horfe to break 
 wind, and with a pretty fmart explofion too : * 
 Let not this ruffle you j f many a worthy man 
 has loft his feat by fb fudden an alarm : but ufe 
 will foon reconcile you to it, as it does the rifing 
 of a covey of birds to a young iportiinan. Thus, 
 
 * Indecent in a high degree. 
 
 + This is the fecond time the Author talks of a worthy man ; pof- 
 fibly he means a man worth a good deal ,of money, alluding to our 
 cockneys. But he fhould be more explicit when he treats on fo ferious 
 a fubjed. Worthy, or unworthy, a man Ihould not lofe his life for a 
 fore tail or a f — t. ' 
 
 then, 
 
28 ANACADEMY FOR 
 
 then, you go off with eclat, provided nothing is 
 in your horfe's way, and if there is, you have put 
 him fo on his mettle, he will probably leap over 
 it. Indeed, it is far from improbable, that he 
 may run away with you, but if he does, you 
 will make a moft fpirited appearance, as my inge- 
 nious elucidator fhews you in the annexed plate. 
 
 When a man is once well run away with, the 
 firft thing that occurs to him, I imagine, is how 
 to flop his horfe ^ but men by no means agree 
 in their modes of bringing this matter about. 
 Some will run him at a ditch, which I allow to 
 be a promifirig experiment, if he leaps ill or not 
 at all. Frenchmen, (and the French are excellent 
 horfemen) will ride againft one another -, no bad 
 way either : an<J I have feen riders make dire6lly 
 for a ftable (if a door happens to be open) and 
 with good efie6l. How Julius Caefar flopped his 
 horfe, when he rode with his hands behind him, 
 I am at a lofs to divine. 
 
 I remem- 
 
qJ'C (y^tcTi/ cct^ c.j^ fj fMn 
 
 a> <ife- 
 
 LONDOM,l'Liblifl-i'dSep''l;i7S6,hyW.DlcraN.'>ONEngra,ver&PrintJ:eIler N?I58 Bond Sti-eat. 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 29 
 
 I remember feeing an ingenious Frenchman 
 make four experiments upon Newmarket Heath, 
 in only one of which he fucceeded. His horfe 
 made away with him whilil Gimcrack was run- 
 ning a match, and the Count's hopes of flopping 
 him being but fmall, he contrived to turn him 
 acrofs the courfe, and rode flap-dafh at Gim- 
 ciack, hoping to eflfedt it by a broadfide j -but 
 he was too quick for him, and he miffed his aim. 
 He then made full at Lord March, but unluckily 
 only toc:: liim flanting : baffled in this fecond 
 attempt, he relied on the Devil's ditch, as a cer- 
 tain check to his career j but his horfe carried 
 him clean over, fafe and w^ell : and had not the 
 rubbing-houfe prefented itfelf to his view, he af- 
 fured me, he believed he fhould have foon 
 reached London j dafhing at this, with a true 
 French fpirit, he produced the defired effedt j his 
 horfe, not being able to proceed, flopped, and 
 that fo fuddenly, that the Earl of Pembroke him- 
 
 felf 
 
30 AN ACADEMYFOR 
 
 felf would have been diflodged, and old New- 
 caftle lain with his mother Earth. The Count, 
 it is true, came off, but tolerably well j the 
 horfe broke his head, and the Count likewife ^ 
 fb that according to the ancient opinion of two 
 negatives making an affirmative, little or no 
 harm was done. 
 
 Having faid thus much on the fubje61: of 
 being run away with, it is neceffary I fhould 
 decide, for the benefit of my readers, on the 
 means I mofl approve of for putting a flop to 
 fuch doings^ and I am clearly for the flable 
 door j if, entering it full fpeed, you fhould be 
 afraid of your head, fpread out your legs fuffi- 
 ciently, and your horfe will go in without you. 
 
 *^k. .^ ji^ ■llfc' -Jt 4k^ -it- "it- 
 
 W t!F'^ W t!f ^ V ™ 
 
 - In riding the road, obferve in pafling a whifky, 
 a phaeton or a flage coach, in fhort any carriage 
 where the driver fits on the right hand, to pafs it on 
 
 that 
 
CiJ^f . C^)t-c n.^t ?-!/ i. .^.^S^eU: 
 
 
 M^u^A,. 
 
 ^j-OTij <.-<x:cte/iyf.f: 
 
 LONDON.PuWitVd Sep^iaySG by VV.DlCKrr- 
 
 .'xsv & fi iiUfel!erN°158 Bond Street. 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 31 
 
 that fide, he may not fee you on the other, and 
 though you may meet with a lafh in the eye, 
 what is the lols of an eye to a leg or perhaps 
 a neck. 
 
 Should a man on horfeback be on the road, 
 and leading another horfe, always dalh by the 
 led one, you might otherwife fet the man's horle 
 capering, and perhaps throw him off 5 and you 
 can get but a kick or two by obferving my 
 inilruclions. 
 
 Take care never to throw your horfe down, 
 it is an unlucky trick and .fit only for boys. 
 Many gentlemen of my acquaintance, and I too, 
 have been thrown down by our horfes j yet I 
 fcarce know an inilance upon record of a gentle- 
 man throwing his horfe down; but many have 
 complained to me of their fervants doing it for 
 them. 
 
 In pafiing a waggon or any tremendous equi- 
 page, fhould it run pretty near a bank, and there 
 
 G be 
 
32 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 be but a ditch, and an open country in the other 
 fide, if you are on bufmefs and in a hurry, dafh 
 up the bank without hefitation ^ for fhouid you 
 take the other fide, and your horfe (hy at the 
 carriage, you may be carried many hundred 
 yards out of your road , whereas by a httle effort 
 of courage, you need only graze the wheel, fly 
 up the bank, and by flipping or tumbling down 
 into the road again, go little or nothing out of 
 your way. 
 
 I have given you the above hints, fljppofing 
 you are now at home enough on horfeback, to 
 ride out alone, and may pofllbly be tempted to 
 travel the road j as either the lucre of gain, or 
 the univerfal pajjion^ as a celebrated author calls 
 the love of Fame, may fend you forth. 
 
 Let me entreat you to examine your tackling 
 well at fetting out, particularly from an inn,, 
 and after dinner : fee that your girths are tight ^ 
 many a good fall have I got by not attending 
 
 to 
 
! L'f. ^i^i ? t^.jci,ucif-^ 
 
 LONVJ ON,FubliihVi Si'inl;1786 b_vW;DlCKrNSON,EngTax'erfcPrimi>ller Nfl.SiiBondSlreet. 
 
G Pv O Y/ N HORSEMEN. 
 
 33 
 
 to tills. Hcfllers are too apt to be carelefs, and 
 ought never to be paid till we lee them the next 
 time. * An inilance of a fingular nature occurred 
 at Huntingdon a few years fince to the Rev. D. 
 B. of Jefus College in Cambridge; which has 
 given a difcovery to the world (productive indeed 
 of a paper war) but Vv^hich may turn out benefi- 
 cial to mankind, as it proves 3 to be equal to 4. 
 
 * A learned dancing mafter in the uulverfity of Oxford, who taught 
 poli; niefs alfo, and piiblifhed a book upon that fubjecl, fixed tlie fame 
 period for pafung a flile, in fome cafes, that is here judiciouHy recom- 
 s-jiended for the payment of an hoftler : his precept was, that a well 
 bred man meeting another, on the oppofite fide of a ftlle, ought on no 
 account to be perfuaded to go over firft. The name of this ingenious au- 
 thor was Towle. Had two zealous pupils of his fchool met each other 
 at a ftile, it is fuppofed they muft have concluded their lives on th.e 
 premiles. Unlefs the author had fubjoined to his work that ufeful 
 ealendAr, in which, as the poet conjectures, fuch periods are afcertaincd, 
 
 To-morrow — 
 
 It is a Period no where to be found, 
 In all the hoary regifters of Time : 
 Except perchance in the Fool's Calendar. 
 
 It is a pity that fo defirable an addition has been omitted by the 
 Author of tliis trcatife alio. 
 
 G z The 
 
34 ANACADEMYFOR 
 
 The Doctor dined at the Grown, it was dufk 
 when he fet out northwards : I myfelf faw 3s. 
 charged in his bill for wine ^ this accounts for his 
 want of obfervation j for the hoftler's, I mufl 
 attribute it to his having been paid beforehand. 
 The Do6lor went off at a Ipurt, pretty much in 
 the manner I have recommended, and having 
 got clear of the pavement, wifhed to (what is 
 called) mend his pace j but his horle was obdu- 
 rate, and all his influence could not prevail. 
 The Do6lor fancied, at times, he went oddly, 
 and therefore brought to, at Alconbury, five 
 miles fr6m Huntingdon, and alighted for an 
 examination : when he difcovered that the hoftler, 
 through inattention, had buckled up one of the 
 horfe's hind legs in the furcingle : and to this alone 
 he had to attribute his hobbling way of going. 
 There was an * hoftler at Barnet, who was a 
 
 * James Ripley, many years, and till very lately, hoftler at the 
 Red Lion, publifhed a Volume of Letters. 
 
 moralifl 5 
 
IS^W^^J^'^a^ 
 
 
 ilOND ON, PubUard SepTl 1786,by W DICKINSON Eng-raver ScPrinUeUerN"l.W Bond Sq- 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 35 
 
 moralift ; poffibly this at Huntingdon was an 
 experimental philofopher, and thought an old 
 member of the Univerfity the propereft fubjed 
 to put his experiment in execution. It certainly 
 anlwered, as far as five miles ; but how it would 
 lucceed in bringing horfes of different forms, to- 
 gether, over Newmarket, I am not competent 
 to determine. It feems as if one might work a 
 lame horfe thus, and keep his unfound leg quiet. 
 If this experiment has been repeated, it has been 
 in private, for I have not heard of it j and I 
 much queftion, if it would ever be generally 
 adopted 5 when I fay generally^ no refledlion 
 upon General officers. A timid Major however, 
 might keep his horfe in due lubjedlion on a review 
 day, by this method. 
 
 ******* 
 
 If 
 
36 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 If I have much varied from the inflrudlions 
 laid down by my fellow countrymen in the art 
 of horfemanfhip, it is poflibly in my recom- 
 mending the fhoulder as the proper place to 
 apply the Ipurs to. In this, I am fupported by 
 no lefs a man than Virgil j and your Romans 
 excelled us as much in riding as they did in fight- 
 ing. Virgil was an eye witneis, and could not 
 err, and a man of veracity, and would not lye : 
 he tells us the exad feat of a Roman Dragoon, 
 and very fimilar it is to that of our own heavy 
 Dragoons, 
 
 " Seu ipumantis equi, foderet calcaribus armos,'''' 
 
 Find me a Schoolmailer hardened enough to 
 deny, that armos fignifies the flioulders, and 
 nothing elfe ! Had the Duke of Newcaille or 
 Mr. Angelo underilood a word of Latin, they 
 could not have lived fo long in error j and perfe- 
 
 vered 
 

 >'/ fte i^r-iJ ( 
 
 lONDON.PiiblitV.I •<i»p;i?n:!C hyXVr '.wc.uov I'lngraArer fePriiitreller NflftB B ond Xtrrri 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 37 
 
 vered in prefcribing a feat on horfeback, fo un- 
 certain and ticklifh as they have done. 
 
 The publication of this work however, will 
 doubtlefs have its effe6t , nor do I much delpair 
 of finding many judges (of riding I mean) coa- 
 lefce in fentiment with me , or of the feat I re- 
 commend, being pretty univerfally adopted. For 
 as the Poet fays, (I forget where I have met with 
 the hne) 
 
 " Serius aut dtmsfedem properamus ad unam."* 
 
 I flatter myfelf with the hope, of ftill feeing in 
 Hyde Park, a grand dilplay of my iyftem of 
 equiftation , and not a Sunday Aide by, without 
 beholding fome promifing eleve 
 
 ^ Fearful to be late. 
 
 Scour the new road, and dafh thro'Grofvenor 
 Gate^ 
 
 * Very indelicate indeed this quotation. 
 
 Anxious 
 
38 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 Anxious and fearful too his fteed to fhew, 
 The hack Bucephalus of Rotten Row j 
 Carelefs he feems, yet vigilantly fly 
 Woo's the ftray glance of ladies pafling by; 
 Whilfl his left heel, infidioufly afide, 
 Provokes the caper that he feems to chide/' 
 
 ^iL- Jt ^^ 7^ -^ ^ 
 
 ^ ^Ir ^ - ^ ^ ^ 
 
 Jiif. :}k- ^le. ^ .'ik. 
 
 ^P tJP" flF ^ 'flP 
 
 The Editor is extremely forry to inform the 
 reader, that not a line more was found upon the 
 monftrous Craws 5 but he hopes his friend's 
 abilities appear fufficiently confpicuous, by what 
 remains of this inilru^tive work, 
 
 F I JV I S\ 
 
One hundred copies of a de luxe edition with an illustration 
 
 hand colored and signed by Gordon Ross and four hundred 
 
 copies of a regular edition were printed and bound at the 
 
 Printing House of William Edwin Rudge 
 
 at Mount Vernon, N.Y., 1929 
 
 REGULAR EDITION NUMBE 
 
 ^#^ 
 


 
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