The pocket and the stud : or, Practical hints on the management of the stable

Preface

Whenever a man ventures to give hints or offer advice to others on the management of their property or affairs (be the nature of them what it may), he lays himself open to a charge of both arrogance and presumption, unless he can bring forward a good reason for fancying himself qualified for the task, for it not merely implies, but plainly states, that he conceives he knows more about the matter than the generality of those for whose perusal he writes. It, therefore, becomes not only a matter of proper respect to them, but a duty he owes himself, to explicitly state that in offering advice he does not consider his qualifications for the task to arise from any fancied superiority or particular perspicuity of intellect, but from the very homely circumstance of practical experience.

I feel that I stand in the very delicate position that I have described, in venturing to lay the

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present work before the public: therefore, if ever a book imperiously called on its author for a preface or introduction, it is absolutely indispensable to " The Pocket and the Stud."

I trust most of my readers will agree with me, that, supposing, from a particular turn of mind, a man had made the manufacturing of chronometers his study from childhood, and that after circumstances had compelled him to serve two apprenticeships to that art, he could not be accused of presumption if, after such experience and practice, he ventured to give advice on the management of a watch to those of far superior attainments in mind or other matters, but who may not have had the same knowledge and practice forced on them, as regards the subject on which he ventures to give advice, or, in more modest phrase, the result of his exj)erience and practice.

Now, I am precisely in the situation of such a man, and I trust the liberality of my readers will give me credit for acting only on the same principle in offering advice on the subjects of the present work. I have had a great part of the knowledge I possess, and the practice I have had, in these matters forced on me by untoward circumstances, over which I had no control; and

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to those who may not have the same knowledge, and have not had the same practice, I offer my sincere congratulations that they have not been placed in the like predicament, for fate has not vouchsafed to give this knowledge and practice to me as a matter of pleasure, but has buffeted both into me in her most angry moods, or, at all events, a great part of both are the result of her will and decree.

There are, beyond doubt, numberless men who possess more knowledge of, and have had more practice in, the matters contained in this work than I can boast; and I am equally willing to give them credit for being able (if they felt inclined to do so) to lay the result of that knowledge and experience before the public in better form and terms than I can : to such men, of course, this work would be useless ; but I trust that to thousands of others it will not be found to stand in the same position.

That there are many gentlemen better judges of horses or their management (as gentlemen's horses) than myself, I make no doubt ; that there are many dealers, breakers, trainers, and others concerned in the sale of horses that know more, I must also, of course, admit; but it might, perhaps,

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be difficult to find a man precisely in my situation, namely, that of one born, bred, educated for, and as, a private individual, who, in addition to the knowledge in matters required of a gentleman, has, as I have before stated, been forced to acquire the knowledge of the minutiae of the business and avocation of men in a directly opposite position in society ; but, as such is the fact in my case, I feel it a duty I owe my readers to give a short statement of the circumstances that have caused such an apparent anomaly.

I am not of sufficient consequence to render it a matter of the slightest importance to my readers what may be my name ; still less the origin, extent, or collateral branches of my family : suffice it to say, that, though it has ever been a family addicted to spending fortunes, I am the first member of it who ever attempted to make money by trade or business : had they or any of them ever liad sense or foresight to have done so, I should, probably, never have written the '• Pocket and the Stud." I am the last of that family, except one. If the rest were living, I suppose I should be considered a kind of scape-grace, who had sullied their fair fame; at least I judge so, as my surviving aristocratic relative will not let me come " between

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the wind and his nobility," because, forsooth, I did not choose to starve or beg while I could turn my knowledge of horses to account.

Where I was born is, of course, of as little consequence to my readers or the public as who I am; perhaps many of both may say it matters little whether I had ever been horn at all : the

where I should never, therefore, have mentioned,

. -. * but from its coincidence with my propensities, to

which I shall briefly allude.

"Whether these sporting propensities were predestined or not I know not ; but I was born on Enfield Chase, and in a house stated to have been a hunting lodge of one of our hunting monarchs, as probably it was, for a farm called the Dog Kennel stood within half a mile of the house or lodge. A curious old place this said lodge was, boasting its four rows of eight windows in front, save three on the ground floor, substituted by the entrance to the hall, where deers' horns, rusty pikes, cutlasses, and God knows what, first delighted my boy's eyes. Here, at two years old, I made my first debut on the back of an animal, which I did in the following somewhat rude and rustic manner, namely, being daily taken by my nurse to meet the bullocks coming home from

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labour, on the back of one of wbich I am told I rode in great state up the old avenue to the yard. So far as riding goes, I may, in fact, truly say that I rode before I walked. My practice in this particular did not, therefore, begin very late in life. This, as a matter of course, soon led to a pony being wanted, and at six years old I was first blooded by Lady Salisbury's huntsman on seeing my first fox killed. At eight years old I could ride my father's horses as straight as he could ; at twelve boasted two of my own ; and at sixteen had a regular stable of them, with an allowance, that only made it a matter of surprise that I did not soon go — somewhere — headlong. However, I did not then, though I have since at times been about as happy as if I was there ; but let me in gratitude allow I have also had hours, days, and years when I felt as if I was on the diametrically opposite tack.

It may be asked, from what I now say, or, very probably, from what I have written, whether I was ever at school ? Yes, Reader, I have been at various schools, some of them very odd ones, but never at the sort of school that, if the question was asked, it would refer to. 'No ; Mamma would not part with her only one, so I was managed in

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this way at home. I loved hunting and horses enthusiastically, and hated Horace and Homer as cordially as any young gentleman living : but the bargain was Horace, Homer, and hunting, but not the one without the other ; so, as I knew that from this decision appeal was useless, I took lessons from the huntsman and tutor at the same time. Manhood came on, and for years my good star was in its ascendency, till death began to be busy in our family, and as our property, or rather incomes, depended on lives, not on deaths, if cordial good wishes for their health could have kept them alive, many of the departed would be to this day still " to the fore." Suits in chancery ensued ; some lost, others gained, which will account at once for the vicissitudes of different periods of my life, and for the seeming incongruity that I am aware exists in what I have at times written, namely, my acquaintance with scenes, manners, and men so much at variance with each other ; in fact, from the habits of the peer to the tricks of the dealer. Yes, Eeader, I have been behind the curtain, where both are actors, kind Fortune leading me, a willing and delighted spectator, in the first case, stern Fate obliging me to dive into the mysteries of the other. But at the same

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time I must allow that I have dived into many curious scenes and places voluntarily, from mere curiosity. I have sipped Chambertin in a ducal residence, tete-a-tete with its noble owner. I have drunk half-and-half with Tom Crib in his parlour ; I have dined in noble halls where aristocracy, beauty, and brilliancy dazzled the sight and charmed the senses ; I have dined at farmers' clubs, where drink dubbed every man "a right good fellow," which stentorian lungs declared '' nobody could deny." I have danced in princely drawing-rooms, and so "faith I have" at Donnybrook fair. I have been presented at more than one court ; so I have at the racket court at the Fleet and Queen's Bench prisons. I have gone to very rechercfie dinners in the latter place, where two honourables, a noble lord, one of the most fascinating women living, myself, and one whose name we frequently see mentioned as about our present court, formed the party. So have I (when I had a farm on my hands) dined in a field on cold bacon on a lump of bread. I have had a stable full of hunters of my own, so have I stabled a hundred horses belonging to other persons. I have given tradesmen a check for their bill for follies that now I wonder at. I have received

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one of another sort when in business for sendino; in my own. I have sold scores of my own horses when it was a matter of indifference to me whether I sold one. I have been twice — once for six and once for eight successive years — in a situation where hundreds of horses, some my own and some the property of others, passed every year through my hands. I have driven my own four horses; so have I scores of teams belonging to coach proprietors ; so was I once, when very closely screwed up in pecuniary matters, very near driving one, as an addition to my limited means, with this very consoling addenda to any other feelings I might have on the occasion from the mouth of the worthy proprietor: — "I am sorry that just now I have no vacancy on a pleasant coach to give

you, but there is the mail that poor

was killed from last week, going through

forest, where the road is always in a shameful state : if you would like that till I can get you a better I will put you on it with pleasure."

Though not a very particular man, I thought the share of pleasure on my part in undertaking a night mail that another had been killed from would be very small indeed ; so this vicissitude has not been added to the many of my life.

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Let me hope that this rough sketch will suffice to account, first, for any seeming incongruities in what I may have at different times written, but, above all, that it will show that, if early initiation in all horse affairs, constant practice, and consequent experience, can be admitted as an apology for a work containing hints and advice on such subjects, the intent with which it is written will be taken into the favourable consideration of the public, and plead in extenuation of any deficiency there may be in the mode in which it has been carried out.

Introduction

Page The Author's Apology for instructing liis Readers.

— Advantages of Experience. — Obstacles in

the Way of profiting by it. — Necessity of their

Removal - - - - - 1

Chapter I

Suggestions as to the best Way of buying a Horse. — Advice of a judicious Friend indispensable.— Never buy for yourself. — How to choose an Adviser. — What Kind of Horse to choose. — Different Sorts of Dealers, Breeders, &c. . - - . _ 9

CHAPTER II. Stable Management. — Ventilation. — Warmth

— Different Treatment for different Horses. — Dryness. — Wide Doors. — Stall Posts. — Racks. — Windows. — Balls. — Mangers. — Head Collars. — Collar Shanks. — Muzzles. — Lofts. — Objections to keeping Hay in them. — Different Materials for Stable Floors. — Causes of Horses hanging back. — Stable Drainage. — • Stable Requisites. — Necessity of Rule. — Saddle and Harness Room. — Stoves. — Boxes - 45

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Page

Chapter III

Different Kinds of Food. — Hay. — Straw. — Oats.

— Beans. — Bran. — Malt. — Barley. — Carrots.

— Chaff 108

Chapter IV

Stable Economy. — How to set about it. — Evils of improper Directions. — Tlie right Sort of Instructions. — Ingenuity of Servants. — Choice of a Groom. — Ordinary Cost of Keep. — Tabular Statement. — Veterinary Surgeons. — "When to be consulted. — Illustrative Anecdotes 143

Chapter V

The different Value of different Horses. — The best Judge of a Horse. — Cases in point. — The Price of Perfection ; - - - 166