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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
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 https://archive.org/details/academyforgrownh00bunb_1 
 
AN 
 
 ACADEMY 
 
 FOR 
 
 GROWN HORSEMEN; 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 
 COMPLETEST INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 FOR 
 
 WALKING, 
 
 TROTTING, 
 
 CANTERING, 
 
 GALLOPING, 
 STUMBLING, and 
 TUMBLING. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 WITH COPPER PLATES, AND ADORNED WITH A 
 PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 By GEOFFREY GAMBADO, Esq. 
 
 RIDING MASTER, MASTER OF THE HORSE, AND GRAND 
 EQUERRY TO THE DOGE OF VENICE. 
 
 Cl)e Cftiru €t)ition. 
 
 “ To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, , 
 
 “ And witch the world with noble Horsemanship.” 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY IV. NICHOLSON, H'ARNER STREET, 
 
 FOR W. BAYNES, 54, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1808 . 
 
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THE EDITOR has to lament that 
 
 the first pages of our Authors ivork^ are 
 amongst those missings but as the Author him¬ 
 self in his Preface^ seems to have arranged 
 his struig of instructions^ the Editor thinks 
 himself Justified in placing those first that re¬ 
 late to the choice of a horse. 
 
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 TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 Lord Viscount T ownshend, 
 
 GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY’S FORCES, 
 
 AND 
 
 COLONEL OF THE QUEENS REGIMENT OF 
 
 DRAGOON GUARDS. 
 
 To your Lordship, as com¬ 
 manding a regiment of ea- 
 valry, a Treatise of Horse¬ 
 manship eomes immediately 
 in the line of your profes¬ 
 sion: I, therefore, humbly 
 eoneeive, that eonsideration 
 alone, would authorise me 
 
 b 
 
VI 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 with propriety to request 
 your patronage and protee- 
 tion tor this my adopted 
 foundling; towhieh petition 
 I am further indueed by the 
 Datriotie hopes of being use- 
 iil to my eountry: for hav¬ 
 ing, with regret, observed, 
 that both your Lordship, and 
 the corps under your com¬ 
 mand, if one may judge by 
 appearances, are totally ig¬ 
 norant of the graces and su¬ 
 perior advantages attending 
 Mr. Gambado’s system, I 
 have flattered myself, that 
 on a perusal of it, you will 
 not only adopt it yourself. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 vu 
 
 but also use your interest to 
 introduce it into the service. 
 What might not be expected 
 from the British Cavalry 
 thus improved.^ 
 
 I might here enter into a 
 train of common-place com¬ 
 pliments, and flourish away 
 on the laurels your Lord- 
 ship might by this means 
 gather, in addition to those 
 already acquired; but I will 
 not ofend your delicacy: 
 besides, laurel is a tree not 
 cultivated in these piping 
 times of peace: I shall there¬ 
 fore conclude this epistle 
 with my sincere wishes, that 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 • # • 
 
 Vlll 
 
 your Lordship may long, 
 very long, in health and 
 spirits enjoy your BAYS. 
 
 I aitly 
 
 With the greatest Respect, 
 Your Lordship’s 
 Most obedient 
 Humble Servant, 
 
 September 1st, 1787. 
 
 The Editor. 
 
OF THE 
 
 AUTHORS PREFACE, 
 
 There needs no apology 
 for putting forth this little 
 volume; there would, on the 
 other hand, need many for 
 with-holding it from the 
 publick. Philanthropy has 
 indueed me to make known 
 to the world, the following 
 rules; by observing which 
 alone, horsemanship may 
 become a safe and pleasing 
 
X 
 
 FRAGMENT OF 
 
 amusement: and I doubt 
 not, but every true judge of 
 the noble art, will aeknow- 
 ledge the excellenee of my 
 instructions; and every true 
 lover of it applaud my pub¬ 
 lic spirit, in circulating them 
 abroad for the benefit of 
 mankind at large. 
 
 I have had some difficulty 
 in fixing upon a title for my 
 work: A Vade Mecum is 
 quitehacknied out: A School 
 is become of late years, a 
 term entirely applied to co¬ 
 medies; and for Ever^ Man 
 his oimi Horseman, an ingeni- 
 
THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 ous professor in Dublin as¬ 
 sured me it was a bull. 
 
 I have therefore adopted 
 Academy; I think it is hap¬ 
 pily chosen, properly ex¬ 
 pressive, and has, I think, 
 been affixed to but one work 
 of genius, vi%. The Academy 
 of Compliments, a publica¬ 
 tion, which, thanks to our 
 present politeness, is now 
 scarcely remembered. 
 
 The Academy for grown 
 Horsemen, is a work that 
 has cost me much labour, 
 and the application of some 
 years, to complete. But, 
 when I consider the vast 
 
FRAGMENT OF 
 
 xn 
 
 utility it may be of to my 
 fellow ereatures; that they 
 are to profit by it and not 
 myself: 
 
 “ Sic VOS non vobis, fertis aratra boves.” 
 
 I flatter myself I have not 
 wasted the midnight oil in 
 vain, “ and I look with plea¬ 
 sure on my book, giving it 
 to the world with the satis- 
 faetion of a man who has en¬ 
 deavoured to deserve well.” 
 May many be the neeks itpre - 
 serves for nobler purposes. 
 
 I am happy in having met 
 with an artist, who has illus¬ 
 trated my ideas of horse- 
 
THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE. xiii 
 
 t 
 
 manship completely to my 
 wishes, and 1 here beg leave 
 thus publiely to acknow¬ 
 ledge my obligations to him. 
 
 %%%%%% 
 
 As I shall be as eoneise 
 and explieit as possible in 
 the valuable instructions and 
 discoveries I am now about 
 to eommunieate to the world; 
 it will be the reader’s own 
 tault, if he does not profit¬ 
 ably benefit by them. When 
 I have told him how to ehuse 
 a horse, how to taekle him 
 properly, in what sort of 
 dress to ride him, how to 
 
FRAGMENT, &c. 
 
 xiv 
 
 mount and manage him, 
 how to ride him out, and, 
 above all, how to ride him 
 home again; if he is not a 
 eomplete horseman in the 
 eourse of ten or dozen sum¬ 
 mers, I will be bold to fore¬ 
 tell, that neither the skill of 
 Mr. Astley, nor the experi¬ 
 ence of Mr. John * Gilpin, 
 will ever make him one. 
 
 “ Nil desperaiidum, me duce Teucro.” 
 
 • !Mr. John Gilpin. The author mentions John, to distinguish him 
 from 'W^illiam. Both these gentlemen are elegant and enlightened 
 travellers, and have published each their tour;—John, his to Ed¬ 
 monton, in 1782;—William, his to Cumberland, in 1786. 
 
THE 
 
 EDITOR to the READER. 
 
 It is to the same propitious stars, which 
 rescued the creatures with the craws from per¬ 
 dition, that we are indebted for the recovery 
 of the fragments that compose this most inva¬ 
 luable work. Fortune indeed was most lavish 
 in her smiles upon the Editor, by throwing at 
 once before his sight, in an obscure alehouse 
 near Limehouse Hole, on their first landing, 
 the most extraordinary bipeds that perhaps 
 ever visited this country; and to his much 
 greater astonishment, some manuscript sheets 
 of his vinfortunate friend, Mr. Geoffrey Gam¬ 
 bado. 
 
 On comparing’ notes (by signs) with these 
 ultramarine beings, he concluded, and with 
 much reason, that the abovementioned sheets 
 
 were 
 
XVI 
 
 THE EDITOR TO 
 
 were thrown over board by the author (in 
 hopes mankind might yet profit by tlie reco¬ 
 very of some of them) at the moment the 
 vessel that contained him was going to the 
 bottom; which it is well known was the case, 
 in the Gulph of Venice, a few days previous 
 to the catching of the Craws; and in this sur¬ 
 mise he soon found he was nearly right. 
 
 Two particular circumstances must yet be 
 noticed. The title page stiles Mr. Gambado 
 Master of the Horse, Riding Master, and 
 Grand Equerry to the Doge of Venice; and 
 so 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 sentiments of the Equestrians of his own 
 country, previous to his embarkation for 
 Italy. 
 
 That lie lield in utter contempt the mode of 
 riding commonly adopted in England, was 
 
 obvious. 
 
THE READER. 
 
 xvii 
 
 obvious, from his never riding like any body 
 else; and upon the Doge of Venice honouring 
 him with the above appointments (and ho¬ 
 norary it was supposed they were only meant 
 to be) he was so elated, that he instantly pack¬ 
 ed up a portmanteau, bought two saddles, as 
 many bridles, six pair of spatterdashes, with 
 spurs affixed, a large roll of diaculum plaister, 
 two pair of patent stirrups, with his MSS. 
 works, (and providentially a few drawings from 
 which the plates in this little volume are en¬ 
 graved); and in a few hours put himself on 
 board a vessel for Trieste, which sailed imme¬ 
 diately, and was lost a few leagues from Ra- 
 gusa. A sailor (one of the few tliat escaped 
 by putting himself in a fisli-kettle, and tying it 
 round his middle, having’ previously painted it 
 green^) has informed the Editor, that lie saw 
 the last of Mr. Gamliado; and his end was as 
 singular as his life had been. Tlie vessel being 
 
 * It is imagined JMr. Lunardi has fallen in with this man,- 
 
 A’". D. Not into the Sea. 
 
 e 
 
 expected 
 
XVlll 
 
 THE EDITOR TO 
 
 expected to go to pieces every instant, he drank 
 a quart of hot punch, and came cooly on the 
 deck; and having first called up all the forti¬ 
 tude he vras able, he next called up his servant, 
 with all the saddles and bridles that could be 
 got; and having mounted himself on the 
 largest, and taking a bridle in one hand, and 
 a paper case in the other, desired to be thrown 
 into the sea. This was complied with, but 
 the informant adds, that the boatswain being 
 somewhat desirous to save his life likewise, 
 hastily jumped up behind the unfortunate 
 Gambado, and he apprehends that the saddle, 
 although new and large, was not master of his 
 additional weight, for it dropt with such pre¬ 
 cipitancy as to throw our Author ovit of his 
 seat, and his foot catching and hanging in the 
 stirrup^, soon put an end to his mortal career. 
 And it must be confessed that he made his 
 exit en parfait cavalier; and an honour to his 
 
 ♦ His patent stirrups were probably packed up, or the Author would 
 at least, have liad a swim for it. 
 
 leatlier 
 
XIX 
 
 THE READER. 
 
 leather he was The boatswain was saved by 
 laying fast hold on the crupper. 
 
 The Editor (besides the friendship he enter¬ 
 tained for this great man), cannot help think¬ 
 ing it is a thousand pities, he should have been 
 lost in so foolish a manner. But such was his 
 rapture at the honours conferred on him by 
 the Doge, and such his disgust for British 
 horsemanship, that delicacy restrained his 
 friends from acquainting him there was no 
 such a thing as a horse to be found in all Ve¬ 
 nice ; and yet they have not a doubt, if he had 
 been apprized of this circumstance in time, he 
 never would have embarked for that capital at 
 all. 
 
 When the Craws were first picked up in their 
 pleasure-boat, it was observed they were all 
 over white patches; upon examination it ap¬ 
 peared that they were sheets of paper artfully 
 fastened round them with strings of sea-weeds. 
 
 * All honour to his Cloth—is applied to many a drunken Parson; 
 and I do not see why. To Geoffrey, Leather is more suitable. 
 
 and 
 
XX 
 
 THE EDITOR TO 
 
 and the sailors, from the impulse of curiosity, 
 lifting some of them up, discovered hand-writ¬ 
 ing underneath. It should seem that these 
 modest creatures had undoubtedly picked up 
 the papers floating on the surface of the ocean, 
 and converted them to the same use our first 
 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 same place where he first saw the 
 Craws, and where he was told the circumstance 
 of their having worn them. 
 
 It is left to the deeper searcliers into the 
 wonders of nature (and wlio are now puzzling 
 to resolve from whence the ladies and aentle- 
 men now lodging at Mr. Becket’s, the trunk- 
 maker, in the Haymarket, can possibly come), 
 to determine whether the preservation of the 
 following sheets, is owing to an innate mo¬ 
 desty in the creatures with monstrous craws, 
 or to their natural admiration for learnin<>\ and 
 ii to preserve sheets, altliough adorned 
 
 ''vitli 
 
THE READER. 
 
 XXI 
 
 with characters totally unknown, and unin¬ 
 telligible to them. 
 
 It was necessary for the Editor to explain 
 how he came possessed of the few materials 
 that compose 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, 
 some notes, an anecdote or two, and about 
 twenty pages of instructions to grown horse¬ 
 men ; but so broken and unconnected, that had 
 he attempted the putting them together, he 
 must have formed a book of his own: Having 
 however, a thorough sense of the superior abi¬ 
 lities of the original Author, he wishes rather 
 to give them to the public in scraps as he re¬ 
 ceived them, but arranged to the best of his 
 ability. And he may be bold to add, that as 
 morceaus choice as these, would not fall every 
 day into their mouths, were they to hold them 
 
 f incessantly 
 
THE EDITOR TO 
 
 xxii 
 
 incessantly open, the public would swallow 
 them with avidity, and digest them either 
 immediately, or at their leisure. 
 
 The notes that are preserved, are written in 
 a hand unknown to the Editor, and are evi¬ 
 dently the remarks of some g’ood-natured 
 friend of Mr. Gambado. By the ingenuity of 
 many of them, and their peculiarity of stile, 
 they bear strong marks of the masterly pen 
 that prodviced the annotation to the first edi¬ 
 tions of Mr. Bell’s Shakespeare. The portrait 
 of the Author, prefixed, is engraved from a 
 drawing by another of his friends, done from 
 memory; it is like, but a likeness that tinc¬ 
 tures of the prejudice of friendship. Jeffery 
 was not so slim, or was his eye so poignant; 
 nor was he ever known to be possessed of a 
 pair of boots himself, though he often men¬ 
 tions boots in his writings. 
 
 Of late years, many portraits of celebrated 
 men have been given to the public from me¬ 
 mory: Mr. Mason has favoured us with a 
 
 most 
 
THE READER. 
 
 most formidable likeness of Gray the Poet; 
 another eminent writer has treated us with 
 one of the noted Charles Price; and we are 
 now furnished, with by no means, a small re¬ 
 semblance of Jeffery Gambado. 
 
 Of Jeffery, or as he himself desired it to be 
 wrote, Geoffrey Gambado, little is known of 
 the descent: but that his father was a taylor, 
 he himself has assured me; and that he lived 
 in Devonshire is no less certain. Being a pro¬ 
 digious horseman (his customers living all at a 
 considerable distance from him) I make no 
 doubt but it was in allusion to him, that the 
 term of riding like a taylor” took its rise. 
 A term still particularly applicable to the na¬ 
 tives of that county. 
 
 The inhabitants of Yorkshire and the vi¬ 
 cinity of Newmarket may turn it into ridicule 
 if they please, but it was meant as highly com¬ 
 plimentary and honourable to that valuable 
 body of men. Was not the flying highway¬ 
 man a taylor? were not three parts of General 
 
 Elliotts 
 
XXIV 
 
 THE EDITOR, &c. 
 
 Elliott’s dragoons taylors ? and was not he who 
 made that dangerous excursion to Brentford, 
 a taylor? 
 
 We are told in a preliminary advertisement 
 to the Tale of the Recess, that the breaks in 
 the story only tend to heighten the pathetic.” 
 A hope attends the Editor, that the breaks in 
 the ensuing work will only serve to give the 
 reader a greater relish of what remains of it, 
 and prevent the glut generally accompanying 
 
 too much of a good thing.” 
 
AN 
 
 ACADEMY 
 
 FOR 
 
 GROrrN HORSEMEN. 
 
 The World has been so long misled by the 
 false notions of Horsemanship, adopted and in¬ 
 dustriously circulated by Newcastle, La Fosse, 
 Pembroke, andBerenger; so infatuated by the 
 fantastick tricks of Sir Sidney Meadows, and ^o 
 blinded by the airy coolness of a Percival and 
 his imitators, that it may possibly prove a diffi¬ 
 cult task to convince any one person in this , 
 wrongheaded age, that the theor}^ of the first 
 mentioned gentlemen, and the practice of the 
 
 B latter, 
 
Q 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 latter, are entirely founded in error, and cal¬ 
 culated merely to break the necks of his Ma¬ 
 jesty’s most faithful svibjects. 
 
 I shall endeavour to prove, and I flatter my- 
 
 i 
 
 self to conviction, that the above mentioned 
 authors are grossly mistaken in all their opi¬ 
 nions upon the noble art and science of horse¬ 
 manship; that even their ideas of the proud 
 animal himself are partial and ill-founded; 
 that the French Parocel, and the Flemish 
 Wouvermans, drew such horses as never ex¬ 
 isted ; and that when we do meet with a horse, 
 that in the least resembles their designs, he is 
 bad and dangerous in the extreme. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ 
 
 It is a melancholy truth, that our breed of 
 horses is terribly degenerated, but indeed the 
 national taste is fallen off proportionably; no¬ 
 thing now is to be seen but bred horses; every 
 apprentice must bestride a bit of blood. A bit 
 
 of 
 
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GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 3 
 
 of blood! and well may they be termed so, 
 for neither flesh nor bone have they to boast 
 of. 
 
 There is indeed one breed of horses still ex¬ 
 tant, which might, and indeed ought, to be 
 brought into more play. I mean what is vul¬ 
 garly called the dray-horse^. This, I profess, 
 is a noble animal, and admirably calculated to 
 make a figure either on the road or in the 
 
 * Or rather </ra-horse. The most useful animal in the creation, 
 and respected by all antiquity. His name is immediately derived 
 from the Greek verb i. e. drao, to do or work; because it was 
 found that he could do more work than any other horse. The vehicle 
 drawn by him was also 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 
 vulgarly supposed, that Thespis carried his stage and actors. Hence 
 the title of dra-mdi and Jra-matic, universally applied to all theatrical 
 pieces. The Greek critics refer the invention of such works to the 
 Doric tribes, because this very word drao was peculiar to the Doric 
 dialect. If this account be correct, those tribes were also, without 
 doubt, the first breeders of dra-horses; an encomium of high value 
 among a people who derived many honourable epithets, as well as 
 proper names, from skill and zeal in breeding and managing horses. 
 
 field. 
 
4 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 field. Scarce one of them but is master of 
 thirty stone or upwards. What a sublime scene 
 would it be, to see fourscore or a hundred of 
 these animals on the full stretch over a piece 
 of wheat, to catch sight of a hound. It would 
 require the pen of Homer to describe such a 
 spectacle. 
 
 On the road, what dangers do we incur from 
 the weakness of our horses! The pitiful spider¬ 
 legged things of this age fly into a ditch with 
 you, at the sight of a pocket handkerchief, or 
 the blowing of your nose; whereas mount one 
 of these, and the world cannot alter your route : 
 Meet a higler’s cart, he will stop it, either with 
 his own head or your leg; fall in with a hack¬ 
 ney coach, and he will carry you slap dash 
 against it. 
 
 ^ purchaser, it is imma¬ 
 
 terial whether you go to Tattersall’s, or Al¬ 
 dridge’s, to Meynell’s Hvmt, or his Majesty’s, 
 it is probable you will be taken in wherever 
 
 o'o ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 To 
 

 
 y7.vV-IV'^ 
 
 •: .-.t./'.nojJ 
 
 fe‘*5c^ 
 
 
 
 ^lirr/y^/// 
 
 ■-/(Y/y 
 
 rVW, 
 
s . 
 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 / 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 To define a perfect horse is nearly impossi- 
 ble, and to tell you where to buy one, com¬ 
 pletely so. However, I shall endeavour to de¬ 
 scribe such outward beauties and active quali¬ 
 fications, as are requisite to the composition of 
 one; and shovdd such a phoenix fall in your 
 way (and the taste of these times are so vilely 
 perverted, I believe you have a better chance 
 at present than you would have had some years 
 back) I hope you will not let him slip through 
 your fingers. 
 
 The heighth of a horse is perfectly immate¬ 
 rial, provided he is higher behind than before. 
 Nothing is more pleasing to a traveller than 
 the sensation of continually getting forward; 
 whereas the riding a horse of a contrary make, 
 is like swarming' the bannisters of a stair-case, 
 when, though perhaps you really advance, you 
 feel as if you were going backwards. 
 
 Let him carry his head low, that he may 
 
 C ‘ have 
 
6 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 have an eye to the grovind, and see the better 
 where he steps. 
 
 The less he lifts his fore legs, the easier he 
 will move for his rider, and he will likewise 
 brush all the stones out of his way, which might 
 otherwise throw him down. If he turns out 
 his toes as well as he should do, he will then 
 disperse them to the right and the left, and not 
 have the trouble of kicking the same stone a 
 second time. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 A bald face, wall eyes, and white legs (if 
 your horse is not a grey one) is to be preferr’d; 
 as, in the night, although you may ride against 
 what you please, yourself, no one will ride 
 against you. 
 
 His nose cannot project too much from his 
 neck, for by keeping a constant tight rein on 
 him, you will then sit as firm as if you were 
 held on. 
 
 A horse’s ears cannot Avell be too long: a ju¬ 
 dicious 
 
1 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 7 
 
 dicious rider steers his course, by fixing his 
 eyes between them. Were he cropt, and that 
 as close as we sometimes see them now a days, 
 in a dusky evening the rider miglit wander the 
 lord knows where. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 I have found many persons who have pur¬ 
 chased horses of me, very inqviisitive and 
 troublesome about their eyes; indeed as much 
 so, as if their eyes were any way concerned in 
 the action of the animal. As I know they are 
 not, I give myself very little trouble about 
 them. If a rider is in full possession of his 
 own, what his horse has, is perfectly immate¬ 
 rial; having probably a bridle in his mouth to 
 direct him where to go, and to lift him up with 
 again, if he tumbles down. Any gentleman 
 chusing, indeed, to ride without a bridle, 
 should look pretty sharp at a horse s eyes be¬ 
 fore he buys him: be well satisfied with his 
 
 method 
 
8 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 method of going’, be very certain that he is 
 docile, and will stop short with a Wohey^,” 
 and, after all, be rather scrupulous where he 
 rides him. Let no man tell me that a blind 
 horse is not a match for one with the best of 
 eyes, when it is so dark that he cannot see: 
 and when he can, it is to be supposed the 
 gentleman vipon his back can, as well as he; 
 and then, if he rides with a bridle, what has 
 he to fear ? I flatter myself, I have proved as 
 clear as day, that eyes are of little consequence; 
 and as I am, no doubt, the first author that has 
 made it known, my readers, if they lose no 
 time, may mount themselves at Aldridge’s, or 
 the Rhedarium, as well, and for half the money 
 they would have done, before I let them into 
 this secret. 
 
 * I have searched Chambers and Johnson for this Wohey! but 
 cannot find him. I do not recollect such a word in all Shakespeare, 
 and he dealt at large in the language. Neither is it to be met with 
 in Master Bailey’s delicate Collection of Provincialisms. What is 
 Wohey? 
 
 Be 
 
ir - 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 9 
 
 Be sure to buy a broken knee d horse^ when¬ 
 ever he falls in your way: the best bit of flesh 
 that ever was crossed will certainly come down 
 one day or another; whereas one that has fallen, 
 (and scarified himself pretty mvich) never will 
 again if he can help it. 
 
 Spavins, splints, corns, mallenders, sallenders, 
 ^c. being all curable, are beneath your no¬ 
 tice. A few of these little infirmities in your 
 stable, is always a subject of conversation, and 
 you may, perhaps, now and then want one; it 
 will likewise jvistify you to your lady, in embel¬ 
 lishing your bookcase with Bracken, Gibson, 
 Bartlett, and Griffiths; excellent authors in their 
 way, and extremely useful! for you will have no 
 occasion to be sending for an apothecary upon 
 every trifling ailment in your family, but will 
 know yourself how to make vip a good stout and 
 effectual dose of physic for your wife or servants, 
 in the gooseberry season, and at the fall of the 
 leaf. 
 
 D 
 
 I would 
 
10 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 I would recommend a long* tail, if it is to be 
 had for love or money; if that is not to be got, 
 buy a horse with a rat tail, if possible; though 
 inferior in point of convenience to the former, 
 there is dijene scai quoi of comicality about it, 
 that inclines us to merriment whenever it makes 
 its appearance. There is one inconvenience 
 attending long tails in summer (when the poor 
 animals have most need of them); and that is, 
 fiorses full of grass are very subject to scour- 
 ings; in this case ride your horse with his tail 
 in a bag, or else he may annoy you. 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 Having described for my reader a horse, and 
 I hope he likes him, I would fain form as com¬ 
 plete a horseman, and having so done, my am¬ 
 bition would be gratified, my end answered, 
 and I would never ride again myself, as long as 
 I liv’d. 
 
 Few 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 11 
 
 Few writers on this subject have thought it 
 necessary to prescribe any peculiar mode of 
 dress to equestrians. I am such a zealot about 
 the propriety of their appearance, that I think 
 too much cannot be said on the subject. Hea¬ 
 vens ! how are the laws degraded since the abo¬ 
 lition of full bottoms ^ in our Courts of Jus¬ 
 tice : I attribute the encrease 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 singularity 
 of the ten or a dozen lines that follow, to their 
 
 written after dinner; Mr. Gambado 
 being fond of pushing the bottle about briskly. 
 His annotator seems to think the same; in¬ 
 deed, if he was the author’s friend, he was a 
 
 * He might have added, how are our Ladies improved by the adop¬ 
 tion of them. ^ 
 
 verv 
 
12 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 very impartial one, for his criticisms pretty 
 often border on the severe. 
 
 Bias, I think it is, that observes, the tout ensem¬ 
 ble should be attended to in every thing; he ju¬ 
 diciously remarks, that a beautiful woman ill- 
 drest would be much better undrest; and he 
 says much the same of rabbits and onions, but 
 I forgot how he brings that to bear. The clear 
 headed reader will soon perceive I have an eye 
 at him ; and having provided him with a steed, 
 I would wish to make his rider a match for him; 
 for your rider is half the battle^. 
 
 Touching 
 
 * Was cvTr so much absurthty crammed into so few lines! Our 
 autlior could not be, ipse, he, when he wrote this! Bias talk French! 
 O coeluni in terra! and be a judge of a Lady’s dress too! and under¬ 
 stand cookery likewise! ^V’hy, Mr. Gambado, you really endow liim 
 with nime talents than tell to the lot of the admirable Crichton, and 
 you forget, do you, how he brings that to bear; and so do I too, upon 
 my word. As to your having an eye at the reader, I don’t believe it: 
 like our honest triend Homer, I fancy, this wasyowr time, to have been 
 put to bed. 
 
 Half 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 13 
 
 Touching the apparel then, I will begin at 
 top. Wear a wig, if possible, and should you be 
 a sportsman and hunt the ^ forest, tlie larger 
 and whiter it is, the safer for you: for should 
 your horse prove, what is properly termed too 
 many for you, and make off,^ nothing but the 
 singularity of your appearance can restore you 
 to your disconsolate family T. The hallooing 
 and hooting of the boys that this will occasion, 
 will enable your friends to trace you through 
 most of the villages you may have past; and at 
 the worst to know, in what part of the country 
 to have you cried. 
 
 Half the battle, how vulgar! Our immortal bard, as tlicy call him, 
 in liis highest \’agaries never was so low as this ! 
 
 * The stag hunt in Epping Forest on Easter Monday is supposed 
 to be the most striking and superb chase in Europe. To this the au¬ 
 thor probably alludes. 
 
 t The author is here philanthropically amiable; and if the restoring 
 a long lost husband to the arms of his spouse, has any claim to public 
 reward, we should not grudge it a moment to his white wig, whilst wc 
 are lavishingly bestowing it on useless quackeries. 
 
 E 
 
 I never 
 
14 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 I never admired around hat, but with a large 
 Avig, it is insupportable; and in truth, a most 
 puerile ornament for the head of a sober man. 
 In windy’weather you are blinded’with it; and 
 the ingenious artist I have employed to decorate 
 this work with his designs, has A^ery forcibly 
 portrayed the inconvenience, and even danger 
 of a hat of this sort, to a man of bvisiness. *By 
 a man of business is not meant a Lord of the 
 Treasury, or a Commissioner of Accounts, but 
 what is called on the road, a rider, a bag-man 
 or bagster. 
 
 A cock’d hat, besides this advantage over its 
 competitor, and the dignity it gives to the most 
 unhappy countenance, has so many others, that 
 it is wonderful to me, it is not uniA^ersally worn, 
 but more particularly by equestrians. If in 
 
 * AVould it be a very bold assertion to hazard, that, by a Lord of the 
 Treasury, or a Commissioner of Accounts, is not meant a Ma?i of Bu¬ 
 siness ? perhaps not. 
 
 windy 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 15 
 
 windy weather, you are blinded, in rainy, you 
 are deluged by a round hat; whereas one pro¬ 
 perly cock’d, will retain the water till you ar¬ 
 rive at your baiting place, and keep your head 
 (which riding might have heated) agreeably 
 cool; having much the same eftect on it, that 
 a pan of water has upon a flower pot. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 Vf? 
 
 Let your boots be somewhat short, and the 
 knees of your breeches but just reach the joint, 
 so that the flap of your saddle (and observe a 
 single flapped saddle is the genteelest) may be 
 continually curling up, and chafing you be¬ 
 tween the confines of the boot and breeches, 
 by which means, you will be satisfied that your 
 leg is in a proper position. 
 
 Much of the author’s friendly advice, as to 
 
 dress. 
 
16 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 dress, is wanting; but the editor recollects he 
 was a warm advocate for the riding in black 
 plush breeches in summer: and ever recom¬ 
 mended a coat of pompadour, or some conspi¬ 
 cuous colour, for the same obvious reason, that 
 he thought a large wig of such moment. 
 
 You may wear spurs, if you are not afraid; 
 and the exercising them a good deal, will keep 
 your blood in proper circulation, and prevent 
 your toes from being* cold. 
 
 Be very careful to spur your horse in the 
 shoulders only; there he has most feeling, be¬ 
 cause he has most veins; besides, by spurring 
 at his body, five times in six, your laboiw is 
 lost; if you are a short man, you spur the 
 saddle cloth; if you are leggy you never touch 
 him at all; and if middling, you only wear out 
 your own girths, without your horse being a 
 bit tlie better for it. 
 
 Elegance 
 
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 tl* ■ 
 
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 % V TK .' ■ ii^uL'P” •■ K«it. 
 
 : . i/ff 
 

 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 17 
 
 Elegance of position is to be considered as 
 particularly essential to every gentleman that 
 appears on horseback in pviblick. And I shall 
 endeavour to point out, vrhat most immediately 
 constitutes it. 
 
 The mode of leaning the body pretty for¬ 
 ward over the pommel of the saddle, in a walk 
 or a trot, has been too little in practice of late 
 years, and it is high time it should be revived. 
 There is an appearance of airiness in it, that 
 embellishes the figure of a rider very much in¬ 
 deed ; particularly if he be mounted on a long 
 back’d horse, who throws his saddle well for¬ 
 ward, and is unencumber’d with a crupper: 
 liere he exhibits an elegant picture of careless 
 indifference, and seems, contemptuously, to 
 leave all the world behind him. 
 
 By tlie bye, I have observed many a wortliy 
 citizen sent on a Sunday into Hyde Park, 
 crupper’d up as tight as need be: but be very 
 shy of a crupper, gentle reader, if your horse 
 
 F naturally 
 
18 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 naturally throws his saddle forward. It will 
 certainly make his tail sore, set him a kicking*, 
 and very likely bring* you into trouble. Ex- 
 perto crede. 
 
 If then, you bend your body well forward, 
 your rump sticking properly out behind, with 
 your legs projected, I shall have hopes of you; 
 you cannot I think fail of soon equalling my 
 most sanguine expectations; and, after having 
 attained this excellence (an excellence, let me 
 tell you, arrived at but by few, and those men 
 of the first knowledge and science, such as the 
 Fellows of Colleg es, the Livery-men of Lon¬ 
 don, or, perhaps the crew of a man of war) I 
 would advise you, without delay, to attempt 
 another step towards equestrian perfection; 
 that is, on riding either eastward or westward, 
 to make your toes point due north and south, 
 or vice versa. 
 
 Thus your spurs may be brought into play, 
 with little or no exertion; and thus, in tvirning 
 
 sharp 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 19 
 
 sharp round a post^your horse maybe prevented 
 from hurting' himself by running against it^. 
 
 The standing up in your stirrups, whilst 
 trotting, in the above position, has a most ele¬ 
 gant and genteel effect; and I would have 
 you make an essay to accomplish it, no doubt 
 
 you will succeed, if you have the genius I take 
 you to have. 
 
 A horse has various methods of getting rid 
 of his man; at present, I will only advert to 
 one. If your horse tumbles down with you, 
 he will sometimes get up again, and should you 
 not do the same in concert with him, and your 
 foot remain in the stirrup, he may probably 
 extend your airing' whilst you remain in that 
 aukward position; and however desirous you 
 may be to remain behind, on you must go, 
 during his pleasure. Now, of all the ways of 
 conveyance that I have had a taste of, this is 
 the least a2:reeable; if it should be the same to 
 
 * More Pliilantliropliy. 
 
20 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 you, provide yourself vritli a pair of patent 
 stirrups; w^itli them, your attachment to your 
 horse may be as short as you please; they have 
 done wonders; can I say more? I am happy 
 in being* able to bear testimony of their asto¬ 
 nishing efficacy in the case of a friend of mine, 
 the Rev. Mr. C—, A. M. when of Pembroke 
 College, Cambridge; by transcribing his own 
 words at the conclusion of an advertisement he 
 inserted in all the papers, addressed to the pa¬ 
 tentee. Having purchased a pair of his stir¬ 
 rups, and falling, one afternoon, as he was ac¬ 
 customed, from his horse, he says, but thanks 
 to providence, and your noble invention, my leg 
 and your stirrup coming off at the same instant, 
 I escaped unhurt.” To what a pitch of per¬ 
 fection is human ingenuity arrived! 
 
 Tlie being able to guide a horse, is a matter 
 of some moment on the road, though it may 
 not be so any where else; and I would advise 
 
 you 
 
 
1 
 
 
 t 
 
 •» 
 
 
 « 
 
 # • 
 
 4 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 21 
 
 you always to ride with a lash whip; it shews 
 the sportsman, and will assist you much in your 
 steerage. If your horse bears too much to the 
 right, of course you drop the reins entirely on 
 that side, and pull them up sharp, with both 
 hands, on the other; but if that does not an¬ 
 swer, you must refer to your whip, and a good 
 smart cut over his right cheek and eye, will 
 soon set him straight again. This is the mode 
 you will see adopted by every judicious pig- 
 driver and I am told, that a pig is esteemed, 
 by judges, to be far more averse to direct pro¬ 
 gression than a horse. 
 
 Lucan informs us, that the Massilians j rode 
 
 without 
 
 * A very in-judicious remark this ; were a Pig to be driven in a hard 
 and sharp, or a Weymouth, and a horse in a packthread tied to Jiis 
 hind leg, it is a matter of doubt with me, whether the latter ^rould 
 drive so handy as the former. As pigs now can play at cards as Avell 
 as horses, I think it is but fair to suppose them capable of dancing a 
 minuet with equal activity and grace; whatever Mr. Astley may al¬ 
 ledge to the contraiy. The author is very hard upon pigs. 
 
 t Our author seems fond of a bit of foreign language, his Latin, I 
 suppose, he was supplied with by the parson of the parish; his French, 
 
 (J I know. 
 
22 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 without l)ridles, and guided their horses witli a 
 switch: 
 
 Et gens quae nudo residens Massilia dorso ’ 
 Ora levi flectit, froenorum nescia virga. ” 
 
 Luc. 
 
 Without a bridle on the bare back,” 
 
 Make with a stick their horse or mare 
 tack.” 
 
 Virgil says the same of the Numidians: 
 
 Et Numidae infreiii cingunt.” 
 
 ^N. 4 
 
 See Numidians, on horses unbridled ap¬ 
 proach.” 
 
 I know, he got from bis father's journeyman, who (aceording to tlie 
 old man’s own phrase) was taught to dislocate coats at Paris. The ]Mas- 
 silians arc here lugged in, for the sake of the Latin verses, or to cry 
 down the use of bridles ; but as I am one of those gentlemen, who ha{i 
 rather ride icith a bridle, than without one; and as he must ransack the 
 blackguard classicks for scraps of quotations, I will meet him, and as 
 Sir Sampson Legend says in the play, “ Try whether my blackguard 
 or his shall get the better of the day.” 
 
 “ Equi sine froenis, deformis ipse cursus rigida ccrvice, et extento 
 capite, currentium.”- Livy, B. 7- 
 
 Good 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 23 
 
 Good riding this; but as to the switch^ I’ll 
 maintain it that a whole or a half hunter^ would 
 be more efficacious; and as to the riding, good 
 as it is, if Julius Caesar did not cut out both 
 Massilians and Numidians I’ll be d—df; and 
 the reader will agree w ith me, when I produce 
 my authority for his horsemanship, which is no 
 less a character than Montaigne. 
 
 On dit de Caesar, qu’en sa jeunesse, monte 
 a dos sur un cheval et sans bride, il lui faisoit 
 prendre carriere les mains tournees derniere le 
 dos 
 
 It is extremely wrong to put a gentleman on 
 a restive horse ||, when he is going out on busi- 
 
 * Whips, so denominated. 
 
 t Hey day ! a new method this of laying down tlie law. If you go 
 on thus, Mr. Author, the law will take you up in return; and it will 
 cost you some shillings before you come to the end of your book. 
 
 t “ It is said of Csesar, that in his youth, being mounted on a 
 horse’s bare back, and without a bridle, he could make him perform 
 his paces with his hands behind him.”- Montaigne. 
 
 II A strange epithet this, and I wonder who coined it; tell me of a 
 rusty horse, and I shall know what it means, for I know what rusty 
 locks are, and rusty weathercocks. 
 
 ness. 
 
24 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 ness, or invited to dinner in the neighbourhood. 
 In the first instance, if a man is not punctual, his 
 credit is lowered; and making an apology for 
 his horse will seldom be admitted; nor will any 
 one make allowances for a guest, if his horse 
 has stopt and turned round five thousand times 
 with him, in five hundred yards, should the 
 turtle be spoiled or the venison over-roasted. 
 
 In such cases, gentle reader, I should dis¬ 
 mount and walk; but if yovi are averse to 
 that, and you find that the beast will not go 
 forward, let him have his whim, and go back¬ 
 wards, only take care to point his head the 
 wrong way^, he will carry you pleasant enough 
 so; but you must keep your own head well 
 employed over both shoulders, or it may not 
 answer at last. 
 
 Be provided with a horse block, it is a fine 
 assistant in mounting, and I am amazed any 
 
 * I clearly see the author’s meaning here: if he travels backwards, 
 and the nag’s head was the rig/it way, he would never get his dinnei*, 
 and it must be wrong not to go when invited.-Recte Domine. 
 
 gentleman 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 o-entleman should be without one. The only 
 
 ■ _ t * 
 
 dano’er I know attendino' it, is, that in your 
 
 ea2*eniess to mount, vou mav, bv over-exert- 
 
 ^ ' • • • 
 
 ino’ yoiii'self, lose your equipoise, and pitch 
 upon vour liead on the oft' side of your horse. 
 This has fi’equently happened to a friend of 
 mine; but if you are cool and temperate, you 
 will take voiu’ seat with ease and convenience. 
 By mounting; thus, you avoid all danger of 
 beino’ kicked, or bit which is more likeh': as 
 if vou are a short man, bv stretchiiio’ out vour 
 toe, to o-et it sufticiently into the stirrup, you 
 are verv apt to tickle your horse under the 
 elbow, and he will then infallibly attack you 
 in the rear with his teeth. Besides the mani¬ 
 fest advantao’e in a horseblock, it is a pretty 
 aiiw ornament to the front of a house, and 
 moreover, shews that the master of it, is a 
 horseman; which, let me tell you, every man 
 that lives bv the road side is not. A liorse is 
 sometimes shy of these blocks, if yours should 
 be so, talk to him a little, scratch his nose, and 
 
 H 
 
 use 
 
26 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 use some gentle endearing method or other; 
 and, I believe, the best of all is, to bid your 
 foot boy, who leads him up to it, give him two 
 or three smart kicks in the belly on the olF 
 side. 
 
 You are now mounted, and no doubt, anxi¬ 
 ous to set off: here then, observe my advice. 
 
 Before ever your horse gets into motion, clap 
 both your spurs into him pretty sharp: this will 
 set him agoing for the whole day, and shew him 
 you have spurs 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 setting 
 off, than this is, but I must caution you, that 
 the surprize will generally cause yovir horse to 
 break wind, and with a pretty smart explosion 
 too^: Let not this ruffle youL; many a worthy 
 
 * Indecent in a lucrh deijree. 
 
 t This is the second time the Author taiks of a worthy man : pos¬ 
 sibly he means a man worth a good deal of money, alluding to our 
 cockneys. But he should be more explicit when he treats on so seri¬ 
 ous a subject. Worthy, or unworthy, a man shoidd not lose his life 
 for a sore tail or a f—t. 
 
 man 
 
1 . 
 

GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 27 
 
 man has lost his seat by so sudden an alarm: 
 but use will soon reconcile you to it, as it does 
 the rising of a covey of birds to a young sports¬ 
 man. Thus, then, you go off with eclat, pro¬ 
 vided nothing is in your horse’s way, and if 
 there is, you have put him so 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 most 
 spirited appearance, as my ingenious elucidator 
 shews you in the annexed plate. 
 
 When a man is once well run away with, the 
 first thing that occurs to him, I imagine, is how 
 to stop his horse ; 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 promising experiment, if he leaps ill, or 
 not at all. Frenchmen, (and the French are 
 excellent horsemen) will ride against one lui- 
 other; no bad way either: and 1 have seen 
 riders make directly for a stable (if a door hap¬ 
 pens to be open) and with good effect. How 
 
 Julius 
 
28 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 Julius Caesar stopped his horse, when he rode 
 with his hands behind him, I am at a loss to 
 divine. 
 
 I remember seeing an ingenious Frenchman 
 make four experiments upon Newmarket Heath, 
 in only one of which he succeeded. His horse 
 made away with him whilst Gimcrack was 
 running a match, and the Count’s hopes of 
 stopping him being but small, he contrived to 
 turn him across the course, and rode slap-dash 
 at Gimcrack, hoping to effect it by a broadside; 
 but he was too quick for him, and he missed his 
 aim. He then made full at Lord March, but 
 unluckily only took him slanting: baffled in this 
 second attempt, he relied on the Devil’s ditch, 
 as a certain check to his career; but his horse 
 carried him clean over, safe and well: and had 
 not the rubbing-house presented itself to his 
 view, he assvired me, he believed he should 
 have soon reached London; dashing at this, 
 with a true French spirit, he produced the de¬ 
 sired effect; his horse, not being able to pro¬ 
 ceed, 
 
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GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 29 
 
 ceed, stopped, and that so suddenly, that the 
 Earl of Pembroke himself would have been 
 dislodged, and old Newcastle lain with his 
 mother Earth. The Count, it is true, came 
 off, but tolerably well; the horse broke his 
 head, and the Count likewise; so that accord¬ 
 ing to the ancient opinion of two negatives 
 
 making an affirmative, little or no harm was 
 done. 
 
 Having said thus much on the subject of 
 being run away with, it is necessary I should 
 decide, for the benefit of my readers, on the 
 means I most approve of for putting a stop to 
 such doings; and I am clearly for the stable 
 door; if, entering it full speed, you should be 
 . afraid of your head, spread out your leg's suf¬ 
 ficiently, and your horse will go in without you. 
 
 ********* 
 
 In riding the road, observe in passing a 
 whisky, a phaeton^ or a stage coach, in short 
 
 I any 
 
Si) 
 
 \N ACADEMY FOR 
 
 iiny carriage where the driver sits on the right 
 hand, to pass it on that side, he may not see 
 }on on the other, and though you may meet 
 with a lash in the eye, what is the loss of an 
 eye to a leg or perhaps neck. 
 
 Should a man on horseback be on the road, 
 and leading another horse, always dash by the 
 led one, you might otherwise set the man’s 
 horse. capering, and perhaps throw him off; 
 and you can get but a kick or two by observ¬ 
 ing my instructions. 
 
 Take care never to throw your horse 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 horses; 
 yet 1 scarce know an instance upon record of a 
 gentleman throwing his horse down; but many 
 have complained to me of their servants doing 
 it for them. 
 
 In passing a waggon or any tremendous 
 c((uipage, should it run pretty near a bank, 
 
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GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 31 
 
 and tliere be but a ditch, and an open country 
 in tlie other side, if you are on business and in 
 a hurry, dasli up the ])ank without hesitation; 
 for should you take tlie other side, and your 
 horse sliy at the carriage, you may be carried 
 many hundred yards out of your road; whereas 
 by a little effort of courage, you need only graze 
 the wheel, fly up the bank, and hy slipping' or 
 tumbling down into the road again, go little or 
 nothing out of your way. 
 
 I have given you the above hints, supposing 
 you are now at home enough on horseback, to 
 ride out alone, and may possibly be tempted to 
 travel the road; as either the lucre of gain, or 
 the universal passioiiy as a celebrated author 
 calls the love of Fame, may send you forth. 
 
 Let me entreat you to examine your tack¬ 
 ling well at setting out, particularly from an 
 inn, and after dinner: see that your girths are 
 tight; many a good fall have I got by not at¬ 
 tending to this. Hostlers are too apt to be 
 
 careless. 
 
32 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 careless, and ought never to be paid till we 
 see them the next time^. An instance of a 
 singular nature occurred at Huntingdon a few 
 years since to the Rev. D. B. of Jesus College 
 in Cambridge; which has given a discovery to 
 the world (productive indeed of a paper war) 
 but which may turn out beneficial to mankind, 
 as it proves 3 to be equal to 4. The Doctor 
 dined at the Crown, it was dusk when he set 
 
 * A learned dancing master in the university of Oxford, who 
 taught politeness also, and published a book upon that subject, fixed 
 the same period for passing a stile, in some cases, that is here judici¬ 
 ously recommended for the payment of an hostler: his precept was* 
 that a well bred man meeting another, on the opposite side of a stile, 
 ought on no account to be persuaded to go over first. The name of 
 this ingenious author was Towle. Had two zealous pupils of his 
 school met each other at a stile, it is supposed they must have con¬ 
 cluded their lives on the premises. Unless the author had subjoined to 
 his work that useful calendar, in which, as the poet conjectures, such 
 periods are ascertained. 
 
 -To-morrow— 
 
 It is a Period no where to be found. 
 
 In all the hoary registers of Time: 
 
 Except perchance in the Fool’s Calendai** 
 
 It is a pity that so desirable an addition has been omitted by the 
 Author of this treatise also. 
 
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GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 33 
 
 out northwards: I myself saw 3s. charged in 
 his bill for wine; this accounts for his want of 
 observation; for the hostler s, I must attribute 
 
 it to his having been paid beforehand. The 
 
 0 
 
 Doctor went off at a spurt, pretty much in the 
 manner I have recommended, and having got 
 clear of the pavement, wished to (what is 
 called) mend his pace; but his horse was ob¬ 
 durate, and all his influence could not prevail. 
 The Doctor fancied, at times, he went oddly, 
 and therefore brought to at Alconbury, five 
 miles from Huntingdon, and alighted for an 
 examination: when he discovered that the 
 hostler, through inattention, had buckled up 
 one of the horse’s hind legs in the surcingle: 
 and to this alone he had to attribute his 
 hobbling way of going. 
 
 There was an ^ hostler at Barnet, who was a 
 moralist; possibly this at Huntingdon was an 
 experimental philosopher, and thought an old 
 member of the University the properest sub- 
 
 * James Ripley, many years, and till very lately, hostler at the 
 Red Lion, published a Volume of Letters. 
 
 K ject 
 
34 
 
 AN ACADEMY FOR 
 
 ject to put his experiment in execution. It 
 certainly answered, as far as five miles; but how 
 it would succeed in bringing horses of differ¬ 
 ent forms together over Newmarket, I am not 
 
 & 
 
 competent to determine. . It seems as if one 
 might work a lame horse thus, and keep his 
 unsound leg quiet. If this experiment has 
 been repeated, it has been in private, for I have 
 not heard of it; and I much question if it would 
 ever be generally adopted; when I say ge¬ 
 nerally, no reflection upon General officers. 
 A timid Major however, might keep his horse 
 in due subjection on a review day, by this me- 
 thod. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 If I have much varied from the instructions 
 laid down by my fellow countrymen in the art 
 of horsemanship, it is possibly in my recom¬ 
 mending the shoulder as the proper place to 
 apply the spurs to. In this I am supported by 
 no less a msyi than Virgil; and your Romans 
 excelled as much in riding as they did in fight¬ 
 ing. Virgil was an eye witness, and could not 
 
 err. 
 
GROWN HORSEMEN. 
 
 35 
 
 err, and a man of veracity, and would not 
 lye: he tells us the exact seat of a Roman 
 Dragoon, and very similar it is to that of our 
 own heavy Dragoons. 
 
 Seu spvimantis equi, foderet calcaribus armosJ* 
 
 Find me a Schoolmaster hardened enough to 
 deny that armos signifies the shoulders, and no¬ 
 thing else! Had the Duke of Newcastle or Mr. 
 Angelo understood a word of Latin, they could 
 not have lived so long in error; and persevered 
 in prescribing a seat on horseback so uncertain 
 and ticklish as they have done. 
 
 The publication of this work, however, will 
 doubtless have its effect; nor do I much despair 
 of finding manyjudges (of riding I mean) coalesce 
 i n sentiment with me; or of the seat I recommend, 
 beingprettyvmiversallyadopted. For asthePoet 
 says, (I forget where I have met with the line) 
 
 ‘‘ Series aut citius sedem properamus ad unain^.’, 
 
 * Very indelicate indeed this quotation. 
 
 I flatter 
 
36 
 
 AN ACADEMY, &c. 
 
 I flatter myself with the hope, of still seeing in 
 Hyde Park a grand display of my system of 
 equistation; and not a Sunday slide by, with¬ 
 out beholding some promising eleve 
 
 -Fearful to be late. 
 
 Scour the new road, and dash thro’ Grosvenor 
 Gate; 
 
 Anxious and fearful too his steed to shew. 
 
 The hack Bucephalus of Rotten Row; 
 
 Careless he seems, yet vigilantly sly, 
 
 Woo’s the strange glance of ladies passing by; 
 Whilst his left heel, insidiously aside. 
 
 Provokes the caper that he seems to chide. 
 
 The Editor is extremely sorry to inform the 
 reader, that not a line more was found upon the 
 monstrous Craws; but he hopes his friend’s 
 abilities appear sufficiently conspicuous, by 
 what remains of this instructive work. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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