a* Of G-&OFFJZR.Y" G,4JfIL//?(K,

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CONTAINING ACCOUNTS OP

ACCIDENTAL EXPERIMENTS,

EXPERIMENTAL ACCIDENTS,

BOTH SUCCESSFUL AND UNSUCCESSFUL:

COMMUNICATED BY VARIOUS CORRESPONDENTS

GEOFFREY GAMBADO, Esq.

AUTHOR OF THE ACADEMY FOR GROWN HORSEMEN;

MOST INSTRUCTIVE REMARKS THEREON, AND ANSWERS
THERETO, BY THAT ACCOMPLISHED GENIUS.

AND NOW FIRST PUBLISHED,

BY THE EDITOR OF THE ACADEMY FOR
GROWN HORSEMEN.

ILLUSTRATED WITH CUTS BY THE MOST
EMINENT ARTISTS.

PRINTED SY W. NICHOLSON, WARNER STREET,
FOR W. BAYNES, 54, PATERNOSTER ROW.

EDITOR to the READER.

The Public is in high luck to obtain any
thing more that comes from the pen of Geof-
frey Gambado. A former publication has
nearly immortalized him, and I trust the pre-
sent will do it completely. It is true this work
is chiefly composed of Letters addrest to him,
but his remarks and replies are added to them;
and had it not been for Geoffrey, such letters
had never made their appearance; perhaps
never been written. What had been such a
loss to the community! I will venture to
affirm that few, very few, have heard of such
extraordinary cases, such novel ideas, and such
obvious and salutary advice as are contained

in the following* pages. Were I to mention
the odd place in which I found the MSS. copy
of this work, it might create laughter�

" A passion hateful to my purposes:"

For having the safety of man's neck in my eye
at this present writing, I think it no laughing
matter; and shall therefore deem it sufficient
to say, I have found it, and have now the sa-
tisfaction of laying it before the world.

A paltry publication has lately made its
appearance, on the same construction as this.
It is a periodical thing, entitled The Annals
of Agriculture, and will, I dare say, be of
much use in the chandlers shops. This too,
like Geoffrey's edifying collection of letters,
treats on propagation, cultivation, preserva-
tion, the good of the nation, Sfc. 8fc. But
when we once consider for a moment the
different objects the authors claim our atten-
tion in behalf of�Should even a potatoe enter

the lists with a poney, my blood rises�my
choler is excited.

Talk of propagation! Would the blockheads
have us hesitate between a horse chesnut, and
a chesnut horse! Common sense forbids it
(particularly as it is to be the fashionable co-
lour in harness this time five years); and as
for preservation�Which should humanity first
extend her arm to save? A cabbage or a
cockney�A captain or a cauliflower? For
these reasons I lament seeing, monthly, the
names of several respectable friends of mine,
affixed to a work of such subordinate considera-
tion. Had they spent as much time in riding
upon turnips, as they have in writing upon
them, they might ere now have belonged to
the first hunts in the country, and most
fashionable clubs in town. But I fear the silk
purse and the sows ear are but too applicable
to most of them.

In the ladies, however, Geoffrey will un-

doubtedly find warm advocates. Those lovely
creatures, who delight so much in the propa-
gation of their own beautiful species, will ever
support the Animal System in preference to the
Vegetable; nor waste their precious time and
consideration on a carrot, which may be so
much better employed in furnishing a cradle.

And whilst the frantic farmers that furnish
their stuff for the Annals of Agriculture, shall
be puzzling their brains to preserve a ragged
flock of sheep from the rot, the fair sex shall
be more nobly employed in the preservation of
beauty, and what is more puzzling, though
we daily see it attempted�the preservation of
even The Human Face Divine, itself.

Emboldened by these considerations, that
the Annals of Horsemanship will speedily drive
the Annals of Agriculture out of the house of
every man and woman of taste and feeling,
I do not hesitate to foresee. From his an-
swers to some of the following letters it ap-
pears,

pears, that Mr. Gambado was somewhat
irritable, as in a postscript, page 7, he ra-
ther snubs his correspondent for asking" his
advice. It should likewise seem that he was
at this time rather short of cash, for he appears
to have given advice for a fee; and once, if I
recollect, treats of bad shillings. This, in-
deed, might a little sour his natural disposi-
tion, which I have reason to believe, from his
physiognomy, was placid and amiable. I am
told he seldom rode himself; and the only
time he went six miles on horseback, he wore
a pair of Diaculum drawers. That such an
author should be no rider may appear mar-
vellous at first, but, on reflection, we must
acknowledge that we daily find people speak-
ing and writing on what they know nothing
at all about. Herein Geoffrey exceeds all I
ever heard of: for such a book of knowledge
as his Academy for Grown Horsemen, never
yet made an appearance in the world.

The Editor, therefore, of The Academy for
Grown Horsemen has now to congratulate
the public on the discovery of another work
from the pen of the much-admired Geoffrey
Gambado; a work that contains some of the
most useful and extraordinary experiments,
perhaps, ever made in Horsemanship: several
curious customs and opinions of ingenious
gentlemen, little known to the world, and
some collected from very choice, but remote
publications; together with (what will be no
doubt esteemed invaluable), Geoffrey's most
ingenious suggestions, and prescriptions to-
wards the removal of every difficulty and
danger incidental to that most noble art: his
answers to some queries put to him, and his
criticisms on others that were un-answerable.

By the putting forth of this work the pub-
lic must be let into much useful knowledge.
The many practical attempts and atchieve-
ments herein recorded prove, beyond a doubt,

that such things have been; and having been,
that in all probability such things are. And
even those experiments that have not been at-
tended, hitherto, with perfect success, may
yet, like balloons, turn out to the most valu-
able account, when taken into hand by more
skilful philosophers. The Editor here begs
leave to remark, that the Diaculum Drawers
abovementioned, are the only fabrics of the
kind he ever heard of, and verily believes they
are hitherto non-descript. He has some rea-
son to think they are yet extant (and should

they be, they are worthy the search of the
Dilettanti); for a sort of flannel breeches, ap-
parently prepared in the same manner, but
much damaged by time, &c. were last week
offered to the Leverian Museum, but are said,
for delicate reasons, to have been rejected by
the proprietor as unfit for exhibition. What
false delicacy! when the man pesters us every
day with a non-descript in the papers; some old

stinking fish, that never could be of service to
man, woman, or beast! whereas the drawers,
like the North-west passage, if they could be
once discovered, might prove hereafter of the
greatest fundamental consequence to mankind
at large, the Venetians only excepted.

IT clearly appears from the Preface to
the following Work, that it was compiled

prior to Mr. Gambados appointment of Master
of the Horse to the Doge of Venice; for it
seems he had never at that time been above six
miles from home.

To most of the Plates the Editor has thought
ft to subjoin Latin mottos, as an elucidation
of them to such of his Readers as do not un-
derstand English; and such he may perhaps
meet with.

S ID.BD svn ■■!■;

H B.R] 15 ■ M'BJ PB CDB.

I flatter myself the following compilation
will not prove unwelcome to the Public; it
blends information with amusement, and
confirms how general is the thirst for know-
ledge in the present times, which is not to
be idly checked by the loss of a limb or a
life. The adventurers of this age are divided
into two classes�per mare, per terras�of
which latter description are my correspond-
ents. Those of the former, fancy they dis-
cover much, by being at sea for months to-
gether without sight of land�by the wanting
wine and water, and getting neither�but
at length espying something like an island un-

xiv GEOFFREY GAMBADO TO

known; it is perhaps more like an owzle than
any one laid down in the charts. They do
actually discover, however, that the natives
will not let them go ashore, and that they
must return as wise as they came. They dis-
cover that they have little left to eat, and less
to drink; that they must live by sucking
each others shirts for half a year, arrive
miraculously at home, and write a book about
it.

My Correspondents are of a different stamp;
they discover that there is much left unfound
out at home, and seem to be meritoriously
employed in consequence. Going abroad,
with them, I take to be only going out of
the house and seeing the world, a laudable
ride of a dozen miles. This opinion of seeing
the world tempts me to digress a little. My
apothecary, a man of knowledge and judg-
ment, but who, no more than myself, had
ever been above six miles from home, being

obliged to visit a patient at the distance of
twenty, actually returned in amazement, and
assured me, he could not have thought the
world was so big. These were his very
words�and was not it mighty natural?

To shew how much of the natural he had
in him, I cannot refrain from adding, that,
having passed a turnpike or two, for the first
time, in this excursion, he was in raptures at
the piety of the people thereabouts; for he
told me, that they had the Belief and the Ten
Commandments painted upon blue boards at
every gate�though he passed through and
could not read them, having left his spectacles
at home.

Pardon, gentle Reader, this digression, which
has informed you of an anecdote rather extra-
ordinary. If you do not believe it, and should
find out the subject, who was himself the nar-
rator; don't venture to tell him so�He is a
passionate man, rather inclined to let blood,

xvi GEOFFREY GAMBADO TO

and may perhaps, if you commit yourself to
him, put you to death.

To return to business�The letters I have
received have required a clever arrangement;
and I thought it better to add my answers, or
remarks, immediately to each, than to huddle
the letters into one part and the answers into
a second. Cuts were also thought necessary
towards the clearing up of some of the most
blind descriptions of awkward situations and
queer accidents which, I confess, are, here and
there, but lamely made out by the writers. I
wish my delineator may have succeeded in
those I set him to. Several I have received,
inclosed in letters from the sufferers, or ex-
perimental philosophers themselves, many of
which are frightfully descriptive.

I request my Readers will be more attentive
to what is contained in the following pages,
than they were to my History of Cruppers,
this being of a much more serious tendency�

and a publication that for its salutary or whole-
some advice ought to be printed for brass *.
Some of the letters, indeed, border on fri-
volity, and some even on folly; but as they
may divert, though they will not instruct, I
shall not omit them; for bread, though taste-
less, makes a savory dish go down the better.
And that this book may go down, I mean
with the Town, now, and to Posterity by and
by, when it has served its time and my turn
here (for I expect some fame from it), is the
very earnest wish of, courteous Reader, your
very faithful humble Servant,

* Lest the Printer should forget his erratum, I must suggest, that
Mr. G. could never mean for but in brass.

Mr. G. mentions his History of Cruppers�a work new to my ears�
but I shall be diligent in my search after it.

I return you my most hearty
thanks for the very salutary advice you sent
me last month, from which I have derived
much improvement, and should have acknow-
ledged sooner, had I made sufficient trial of
the fine machine you recommended in such
warm terms. My Hobby, as I told you be-
fore, is an admirable animal, and finely cal-
culated for a pensive man, like myself, to take
the air upon. It was a pity he was so prone
to tumble, and that too, in stony roads the
most; for he was otherwise bordering on per-
fection. So I sent for a carpenter, on the
receipt of your recipe, and had a large Puzzle
of Oak made for him, after the pattern of

those worn by the Squire's Pointers; and I
have found it answer prodigiously.

I have had nothing like a bad fall lately,
except one day in cantering over a ploughed
field, where, upon a blunder, the machine
entered the ground with such force as to in-
troduce a portion of the Hobby's head along
with it. We came clean over, and for some
time I thought my Hobby's neck was broke.
I did not mind it myself, but I shall take care
in future always to gallop on the hard road,
and then such another catastrophe cannot
ensue.

I am, Sir,
Your very obsequious humble Servant,

P. S. I forgot to tell you my Parishioners stare at me a
good deal. The machine has an odd appearance, I own;
but not altogether unpicturesque. I got the Drawing-
master of Mr. Birch's school to send you a sketch of me.

DOCTOR CASSOCK KR.S. TJRQ. Investorof tWsMe puzzle for tumble-downHi R

E ■■'^: ' �■"

It is esteemed a likeness. That of the Hobby is rather
flattering.

I have sent you also a sketch of my Puzzle for Dog and
Horse, and a scheme for puzzling a Christian,

I am happy to find the Puzzle has answered so well; and
I doubt not, now it has been tried and approved by such
a right-headed, Reverend Gentleman, one who is also so good
a horseman, and understands all the matter so well, that,
by producing his name, I shall be able to get a patent for
it, which cannot but prove very lucrative; for who has the
horse that he will swear will never tumble down ?

This I believe would be a question that would pose (upon
oath) every man on horseback in Hyde Park on a Sunday.

Though Dr. Shaw himself, who is a great traveller indeed,
has the modesty to assure us, that the Barbary horses never
lie down; yet even he has not the effrontery to say that
they never tumble down!

I received the sketches of the Puzzles for Dogs and Horses;
and hold it fit an etching should be made of them, for the
information of those who never saw such machines.

\y/'r >'/>.: :,''^: /, \ '//

�■■'.- . ' "\ c

The schemes for puzzling Christians, I suppose, dropt out
of the letter, for I never got it. There are, however, so
many schemes of that sort already about town, that it is no
loss, I dare say.

My Correspondent, I believe, did not dislike sitting for his
picture�there appears such an amiable smirk in his counte-
nance, and he says too it is esteemed a likeness.

Note to Letter the First.

Although this Puzzle for a Christian, as he calls it, was dropt, I can
conceive its being of use, if put upon one of those long story-tellers who
catch hold of your button, and thrust their nose and mouth in your face,
when perhaps it is highly necessary to keep them at arms length. In
the adjoining Plate, therefore, are delineated not only the Canini and
Equestrian, but also the Christian Puzzle.

Your fame having reached us
here, I set down with pleasure to write to a
man who I am certain will have an equal plea-
sure in satisfying the doubts that now occupy
my mind. I would proceed and state every
difficulty I find in the treatment and guidance
of a horse, to which animal I confess I am
rather an alien, although I have happily at-
tained (yesterday it was) my thirty-fifth year.
I was bred to a business that debarred me from
an amusement for which I seem formed by
nature, being, Sir, very short in the fork, and
what our wits call duck legged, and all my
weight lying atop: and it was not till I
emerged, as I may say, from the counting

house, that I could make a trial of my abilities
as a horseman. I really think I am going on
well, that I am in a state of daily amendment
and progressive improvement. The questions
I have to put to you Sir are so short and simple
that I will not divert your attention from them
a bit longer, but put them down as they arise
�they require nothing but an answer,

1. What part of my horse must I lay hold of to help me
up, for his mane is cut off?

1. If he will turn to the left when I want to go to the
right, how can I help it ?

3. If he slips his girths, and the crupper is of no use*
what will supply its place ?

4. Should he tumble down by day-light, whether you
think he would in the dark ?

5. What a breast-plate is? We have heard of it here,
but our Sadler does not know how to make one. The
Adjutant of the Militia says it is a sort of armour, to pre-
vent the horse hurting himself by running against a waggon
or a wall. But I say it can't be; because the horse's head

should be armed, as that would hit the wall first, and pre-
vent his breast receiving any damage. Pray solve this by
return of post, as many bets are depending on it at our
next Club.

6. How can I keep a horse cheap ?

7- What is my best way to sell a bad horse, if I don't
like him ?

These are a few of the trifling questions I
shall beg leave to trouble you with from time
to time: and as it will be extremely easy, and,
I dare say, agreeable to you, to answer them,
I shall make no apology but with my as-
surance that I am, Sir,

Your devoted and very humble Servant,

This fellow, with his assurance, appeared to be such a
puppy, I could not answer him for some months ; indeed his
queries rather posed me; but his fees came in fast, and I
was fain to solve them as well as I could.

The first I left to his better judgment, only suggesting
that the ear of the horse and the pommel of the saddle

were all that offered themselves in lieu of a mane, if his
horse had none.

The second I could not assist him in.

The folly of the third raised my choler, and involving with
it the fifth, I had not patience to enter on either of them: so
I fear the betts at the Club are not yet decided.

The fourth and sixth were extremely easy to be answered;
I never met with two queries more so. But the seventh
skilful as I am, I confess I could not reply to, to my Cor-
respondent's satisfaction: and I shall be much bound to any
of my Readers, who will tell me, how the business therein
stated is to be brought about; being ever open to convic-
tion, and not yet too old to learn.

From a Half-way House between Cambridge and Newmarket.

Sir, March 26, 1789.

Having long been earnestly en-
gaged in the study of mathematical science
and being fond of riding, two pursuits usually
thought incompatible, I have been enabled, by
means of this singular union, to strike out some
important discoveries in both branches. The

mathematical improvements in riding will, I
hope, deserve a place in the Annals of Horse-
manship: my equestrian discoveries in mathe-
matics you must permit me to reserve for the
Ladies Diary.

My love for equestrian agitation is, I be-
lieve, more general than that of any other
person; for whatever satisfaction may be
usually experienced by riders while they con-*
tinue on the backs of their horses, I have ne-
ver yet met with or been informed of one,
who received any sensible delight from the
circumstance of being violently projected from
the saddle. But here, Sir, from my passionate
fondness for the mathematics, I enjoy a mani-
fest advantage. From the concussions, reper-
cussions, and every other kind of compound
motion which can be generated consistently
with the due support of the centre of gravity,
I enjoy, I will venture to say, at least as much
satisfaction as any other rider: and at the time
of being thrown off, or, in more proper lan-
guage,

guage, projected from the horse, I experience a
peculiar delight in recollecting that* by the
universal laws of projectiles, I must, in my
flight through the air, describe that beautiful
conic section, a parabola.

After some accidents of this nature, I have
been fortunate enough, notwithstanding the
violent re-action of the ground in consequence
of the strong action of my skull against it, to
preserve my sense sufficiently to be able to as-
certain the curve so generated by my body to
describe it on paper, and demonstrate its pe-
culiar properties: and am not without hope, if
I can meet with horses not too sure-footed, by
frequent experiments, to determine what kind
of parabola it is safest to describe; which pro-
blem will, I apprehend, be found very serviceable
in practice, at the City Hunt in Easter week,
and during the celebration of Epsom races.

Not long ago, by a particular convulsion of
the animal from which I was so fortunate as to
fall, I was very irregularly thrown to the earth,

but had the satisfaction afterwards to discover
that the curve described in my fall was a seg-
ment of a very eccentric ellipse, of which the
saddle was one focus; and that it was nearly,
if not exactly, the same with the path of the
comet now expected to return. And once, by
a succussation still more anomalous, I was
happy enough to describe a new curve, which
I found to possess some very amazing proper-
ties; and I hope effectually to immortalize my
own name, by calling it Angles first Hippo-
piptic * curve.

The first equestrian problem that I ever set

myself to discover was this; " When by pull-
ing the reins you prevent a horse from falling,
where is the fulcrum or prop?�and how is
the horse's centre of gravity prevented from
being thrown beyond the base of his legs ?"
I will not trouble you now with the particulars

* Hippopiptic expresses the mode of the curve's generation in falling
from a horse:�from Hippos, a horse, and pipto, to fall. I call it first,
because I hope by the same means to discover more hereafter.

of this difficult investigation; but shall only
say, that it turned out greatly to the honour
of demipique saddles; which, accordingly, in
the Mathematical Elements of Riding, that I

mean hereafter to publish, I shall recommend
very strongly in a Corollary.

A learned Student in Mathematics has long
published his ability and desire to construct
breeches upon geometrical principles*.

Mr. Nunn is certainly ingenious, and his
breeches, a few salient angles excepted, admir-
able; but the artist who should make bridles,
saddles, and other equestrian paraphernalia, by
the rules of pure mathematics, would render a
much more praise-worthy service to the Public.
For if the flimsy leather of breeches require

* Mr. Nunn's advertisement is as follows:

" BREECHES-MAKING improved by GEOMETRY."

" Thomas Nunn, Breeches-maker, No. 2.9, Wigmore-street, Caven-
dish-square, has invented a system on a mathematical principle, by
which difficulties are solved, and errors corrected: its usefulness for ease
and neatness in fitting, is incomparable, and is the only perfect rule
for that work ever discovered. Several hundreds (noblemen, gentle-
men, and others) who have had proof of its utility, allow it to excel all
they ever made trial of."

geometrical cutting, how much more necessary
must it be to the tough hide which forms the
bridle ? and to what purpose will the geometry
in the breeches operate, if the saddle, by which
they are to be supported, and whose superfices
they are to touch in as many points as possible,
be formed ungeometrically? But I forbear to
expatiate on a matter as plain as an axiom of
Euclid; trusting that whoever can perceive the
utility of geometrical breeches, will readily
argue, a fortiori, to the absolute necessity of
geometrical saddles and bridles.

Pursuing my principles, I have demon-
strated what is the right line to be drawn by
the mathematical rider in every difficult situa-
tion. In ascending a horse's back, at what
angle to extend the moveable leg, while the
fixed one is rested in the stirrup: in leaping,
how to regulate the oscillation, or balancing,
of the body, by attending carefully to that
fundamental point which is your centre of
motion: in starting, how to dispose of the su-
perfluous

perfluous momentum, and thereby to preserve
in full force the attraction of cohesion between
rump and saddle: in rearing, at what angle,
formed by the horse's back with the plane of
the horizon, it is most advisable to slide down
over his tail: which, I maintain, is the only
expedient that can be practised with a mathe-
matical certainty of being safe: these, and
many other important secrets, I am ready, at
any time when called upon, to communicate.
One I cannot even now withhold, which is
this: that there is no good or truly geometri-
cal riding, unless the legs be extended perfect-
ly in straight lines, so as to form tangents to
the cylindrical surface of the horse's body: in
a word, to resemble, as much as possible, a
pair of compasses set astride upon a telescope;
which I conceive to be the perfect model of
mathematical riding.

But besides this application of pure geome-
try, it has often struck me, that too little use
is made, in riding, of the principles of mixed

mathematics. Consider, Mr. Gambado, the
six mechanical powers! the lever, the wheel
and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane, the
wedge, and the screw; and reflect with what
advantage all these may be applied to the uses
of Horsemanship. By means of a lever, hav-
ing an elevated fulcrum raised on the pommel
of the saddle, an entire stop might be put to
the practice of falling; except where the prac-
titioner should voluntarily take a tumble, for
the express purpose of studying the Parabola,
or Hippopiptic Curve. The ivheel and axle is
already applied in the use of horses, though not
in any branch of Horsemanship, except the
driving of post-chaises; but is also found so
efficacious in preventing falls, that where a
horse has been used to that assistance, it is not
reckoned safe to ride him without. The ap-
plication of the wedge might, undoubtedly,
very materially improve the art of figging.
The screw might, with advantage, be applied to
the direction of the horses head with more ex-

actness, and consequently enable the rider to
guide his course with mathematical accuracy.
The inclined plane might happily be introduced
to facilitate the backward slide of the rider at
the time of rearing, as above mentioned. And a
system ofpullies, in the nature of Mr. Smeaton's,
by giving the rider a force equal to the action of
many thousand pounds weight, might for ever
put an end to the dangerous vice of running away.

By the use of the principles of astronomy, I
have invented a mode of taking the exact al-
titude of any horse, at two observations; and
am at present at work on a Hippodromo-
meter *, to ascertain the velocity of his course
in the very act of riding.

But while I boast, and^ I trust, with reason,
of these discoveries, I must candidly confess
that a rigorous attention to theory has some-
times betrayed me into practical errors. When
my horse has been pulling earnestly one way,

* From Hippos a horse, dromos a course, and metrein to measure.

my own intention being at the same time to
go another, I have pulled strongly at right
angles to the line of his course; expecting,
from the laws of compound motion, that we
should then proceed, neither in the line of his
effort nor of my pull, but in an intermediate
one, which would be the diagonal of the pa-
rallelogram, of which our forces were as the
sides; but have always found that this method
produced a rotatory instead of a rectilinear mo-
tion. When a horse has run away, I have, to
avoid the waste of force in my own arms, cal-
culated the necessary diminution of it in his
legs; but, unfortunately, estimating it as the
squares of the distances multiplied into the
times, I was frequently dashed against walls,
pitched over gates, and plunged into ponds, be-
fore I discovered that it is not as the squares
of the times, but merely as the times. I men-
tion these circumstances by way of caution to
other theorists; not being at all discouraged
myself by such trifling failures, and hoping, by

your assistance, to convince the world that no
man can ever become a perfect rider, unless
he has first made mathematics his hobby-horse.
You will pardon this innocent play of words
on a subject so serious, and believe me to be,
Sir, with great esteem,

LETTER THE FOURTH.

To Mr. G. Gambado.

I want your advice, and hope you
will give it me, concerning a horse I have lately
bought, and which does not carry me at all in
the same way he did the man I bought him of.
Being recommended to a Dealer in Moorfields
(who I rather think is no honester than he
ought to be), I went to him, and desired to look
into his stable, and so he took me in; with a
long whip in his hand, which he said was to

wake the horses that might perhaps be asleep,
as they were but just arrived from a long jour-
ney, coming fresh from the breeders in the
North. There were some fine looking geld-
ings, I thought, and I pitched upon one that I
thought would suit me; and so he was saddled,
and I desired the Dealer to mount him, and he
did, and a very fine figure the gelding cut; and
so the people in the street said; and a decent
man, in a scratch wig, said, the man that rode
him knew how to make the most of him; and
so I bought him. But he goes in a different
manner with me, for instead of his capering
like a Trooper, he hangs down his head and
tail, and neither whip nor spur can get him out
of a snail's gallop. And I want to know whe-
ther by law I must keep him, as he is not cer-
tainly the horse I took him for; and therefore
I ought to have my money again.

The Limner in our lane was with me when
I bought him, and has taken a picture of him
as he was with the Dealer on his back, and

another as he now goes with me upon his back;
by which you will see the difference, and judge
better how to advise me upon it.

I am, Sir, your humble Servant,

Lavender Row, Shoreditch.

Please to direct to Mr. T. H. Back-maker; or it may go
to my Namesake, the Turncock.

Reply to Letter the Fourth,

Upon a strict examination of the
two pictures by the Limner in your lane, I am
clear you are in possession of the identical
horse you intended to purchase, although he
does not exhibit quite so much agility under
you, or make so tearing a figure as when

mounted by Mr.-----who I am well acquainted

with, and who, you may depend upon, is as
honest a man as any that deals in horse flesh.
You could have no right to return the horse if

he went no better than one with his legs tied.

You stand in the predicament of Lord P-----,

who gave twenty guineas for Punch, and
when he found he could not make him speak,
prosecuted the Puppet-shew-man; but my
Lord Chief Justice adjudged the man to keep
his money, and my Lord, his Punch, although
he could not get a word out of him.

My opinion is, Sir, as you ask it: that the
decent man in the scratch wig made a very
sensible remark, when he observed, that my

friend Mr.-----knew how to make the most of

a horse, and I am satisfied that you, Sir, know
with equal facility, how to make the least of
one.

I am, Sir, your humble Servant,

P. S. I am sorry to add, my Maid tells me, that two
shillings out of your five were very bad ones.

y'/^:. ■ ':...". ' A

' I'M M ' '■' V; ^; '

LETTER THE FIFTH,

To G. Gambado, Esq.

As I consider you, both from your
situation and eminence in the science of Horse-
manship, as the superior and patron of all
Riding* Masters, permit me, an humble mem-
ber of that honourable profession, to request
your countenance in my endeavours to diffuse
the noble and useful accomplishment over the
whole kingdom.

It is well known that many of his Majesty's
faithful subjects, whose occupations obligee them
daily to figure as Equestrians; so far from hav-
ing been instructed in the art of Riding, are
totally ignorant that any such art, or rather
science, exists. For the benefit of these, I
propose publishing" a Treatise on Horseman-
ship, confined to the lower classes of life.

The first part I shall dedicate to the instruc-
tion

tion of that very numerous and brilliant fra-
ternity, called London Riders, or Bagsters;
who cut, or rather (as my Lord Chesterfield
will have it) make so smart a figure in a coun-
try town; for these gentlemen, I propose to
point out and demonstrate, from irrefragable
principles, the handsomest manner of riding
behind their bags, with the genteelest method
of rolling, strapping, and carrying their great
coats. In a short digression, and a few mar-
ginal notes, I intend to drop some hints, in-
structing butchers in the smartest fashion of
carrying a tray, whether loaded or empty.

I shall likewise risque a few thoughts respect-
ing* the theory and practice of the art of riding
before a lady on a double horse, vulgarly termed
a la gormagon, with some necessary instructions
thereon; a due attention to which matters has
more than once transplanted a coachman from
his box, or a footman from behind the coach,
and placed him in the carriage by the side of
his Mistress.

I propose also to devote part of my labours
to the service of the fair sex, in composing a
set of easy rules for riding gracefully between
a pair of panniers, and supporting a butter
basket in the most elegant stile; a thorough
possession of these attractions may draw the
attention of the fox-hunting Squires, and pos-
sibly raise the Lady possessing them, to the
dignity of Spouse to his Worship the Justice.

That nothing may be wanting, I propose to
appropriate a few pages to the art of sitting
politely in carriages, with the most becoming
attitudes adopted to each vehicle. Among
others, the politest manner of airing, enjamille,
in a gig, accompanied with a husband and
three children; and, as there is no situation
wherein art cannot be advantageously em-
ployed, I shall give a few precepts for the most
advantageous display of the person on a hay,
pea, or dust cart. For the use of both sexes, I
had also digested a few hints and directions,
pointing out the most solemn and affecting

"--�-�^-�� ■■■■■-■■■■in ■ «■...... ........�^^^^^^^^^^^mm^^^^^m^�mtm^�^mmm^mmmmmmmi^mmm�immm�m

manner of riding in a cart up Holborn Hill,
from Newgate to Tyburn; but the late adop-
tion of the New Drop has made them, in a
great measure, useless in London; they may
however be serviceable to persons under simi-
lar circumstances in country towns. As soon
as I have put my work together, I shall beg*
your opinion of it; being, Sir,
Your humble Admirer,

and most obedient Servant,

The above Work if well executed, promises to make a
very pretty Supplement to mine.

Being informed that you are now

at home, and desirous of giving every informa-
tion in your power to those who may stand in
need of it, respecting their Horses, I beg leave
to submit my case to you; which, considering

how fond I am of the chace, you must admit
to be a lamentable one. Relying however, Sir,
as I do, on your Philanthropy (I should more
properly say Philippigy), and that zeal in the
cause which has so long characterised you, I
make no doubt but the small difficulties I now
labour under will be soon surmounted.

You must know, Sir, I am very fond of hunt-
ing, and live in as fine a scenting country as any
in the kingdom. The soil is pretty stiff, the
leaps large and frequent, and a great deal of
timber to get over. Now, Sir, my brown horse
is a very capital hunter; and though he is slow,
and I cannot absolutely ride over the hounds
(indeed the country is so enclosed, that I do not
see so much of them as I could wish), yet, in
the end, he generally brings me in before the
huntsman goes home with the dogs; so, thus
far, I have no reason to complain. Now, Sir,
my brown horse is a noble leaper, and never
gave me a fall in his life in that way; but he has
got an awkward trick (though he clears every

thing with his fore legs in a capital stile), of
leaving the other two on the wrong side of the
fence; and if the gate or stile happens to be in
a sound state, it is a work of time and trouble
to get his hind legs over. He clears a ditch
finely indeed, with two feet, but the others con-
stantly fall in; that it gives me a strange pain in
my back, very like what is called a Lumbago;
and unless you kindly stand my friend, and in-
struct me how I am to bring these hind legs
after me, I fear I shall never get rid of it. If
you please, Sir, you may ride him a hunting

yourself any day you will please to appoint,
and you shall be heartily welcome. You will
then be better enabled to give me your advice;
you can't have a proper conception of the jerks
he will give you, without trying him.
I am, Sir, with due respect,

Your very humble Servant,

Hinderclay, near Botesdale, Suffolk.

P. S. I hope what I have enclosed is genteel.
Mr. Geoffrey Gambado.

,-/■■■■ . -,-■ ' ■..-.

Your brown horse being so good
a hunter, and, as you observe, having so fine a
notion of leaping, I should be happy if I could
be of any service in assisting you to make his
two hind legs follow the others; but, as you
observe, they seem so very perverse and obsti-
nate, that I cherish but small hopes of prevail-
ing upon them.

I have look'd, and found many such cases, but
no cure. However, in examining my papers,
I have found out something that may prove of
service to you, in your very lamentable case.

An Hostler (or Osteler, for so I believe it is
usually written, though I find in the most
learned Dictionary in our language, which ex-
plains some thousands of words more than
Johnson, that it is vulgarly and improperly
written Ostteler, for Otsteler, query Oat-

stealer, and this, it must be allow'd, appears to
be the true word), an Otsteller that has in-
formed me, that it is a common trick play'd
upon Bagsters, or London Riders, when they
are not generous to the servants in the Inn,
for a wicked boy or two to watch one of them,
as he turns out of the gateway, and to pop a
bush or stick under his horse's tail, which he
instantly brings down upon the stick, and holds
it fast, kicking at the same time at such a rate
as to dislodge the Bagman that bestrides him.
(The annexed Plate will shew how the stick

should be placed). Here, Sir, is a horse that
lifts up his hind legs without moving his fore
ones; and just the reverse, as I may say, of
yours; and, perhaps, the hint may be accept-
able. Suppose, then, when your horse has
flown over a gate or a stile in his old way, with
his fore legs only, you were to dismount, and
clap your whip, or stick, properly under his
tail, and then mount again; the putting him in
a little motion will set him on his kicking prin-
ciples

■ ~~. "~~ ■■ "f =.

ciples in a hurry, and its ten to one but, by
this means, you get his hind legs to follow the
others. You will be able, perhaps, to extricate
your stick from its place of confinement, when
you are up and over (if you an't down); but
should you not, it is but sixpence gone. I send
you this as a mere surmise; perhaps it may an-
swer, perhaps not.

I thank you for your offer, which is a very
kind one, but I beg* to be excused accepting
it; all my ambition being to add to the theory,
with as little practice as possible.

I am, Rev. Sir, your most humble Servant,

Rev. Nic. Nutmeg, Hinderclay, Suffolk.

N. B. What you enclosed was perfectly genteel, and
agreeable too.

Note.
Mr. Gambado shews more good writing, at least more knowledge of
what good writing should be, in the beginning of the above Answer,
than in any of his Letters. The judicious Reader will observe that the
Answer at first is an echo of the Letter it replies to. This is approach-
ing to excellence; it is borde ring on the abilities of a Statesman; for
so the Minister's address re-echoes the speech from the Throne. Geof-
frey's

frey's parts appear surely calculated for more places than one; and I
do not scruple to think it possible, that, with a proper education, he
might have been on the Treasury Bench; and a very pretty States-
man, I dare say, he would have made.

Note.
The Dictionary above alluded to, is a very deep work: instead of
its containing more words by thousands only than are in Johnson�
Johnson does not give us ten words that are in it�nor does it contain
much above ten words that are in Johnson. No family should be with-
out it, especially such as have plenty of young Masters and Misses in
them; for it will at once satisfy any little doubts in their unfledg'd un-
derstandings, and let them into all the natural, but vulgar tricks and
expressions that they ought to avoid. This admirable Dictionary is
entitled a Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

If Lord Aboyne should lose his Crest, which I don't see how he can
well do, I would advise him to adopt this print of Mr. Nutmeg's
hunter, to which his Lordship's motto is finely applicable.

" Stant cetera tigno."

LETTER THE SEVENTH.

To G. Gambado, Esq.

Hearing much of your knowledge
in horses, I beg leave to ask your advice in a
business wherein my delicacy as a Gentleman
is deeply concem'd, and flatter myself that you
will sensibly feel for my situation, my future
fortune in life in a great measure depending on
your decision. I have the happiness to be
well received by a young Lady of fortune in
this town, who rides out every mornin^ and
has had the goodness to permit me to join her
for some days past. I flatter myself I am be-
lov'd; but, Sir, the horse I ride is my Father's,
and he will not allow me to part with him:
and this horse, Sir, has an infirmity of such an
extreme indelicate nature, that our interviews
are broke off every five minutes, and my dear

Miss S� will perhaps ride away with some other
Gownsman who is more decently mounted.

I really, Sir, dare not mention, in plain terms,
the shocking* failing* of my horse; but, perhaps,
if you look into Bailey's Dictionary, you may
find it out under the article of Wind. Be
pleas'd, Sir, to send me a recipe for this horrid
infirmity, or I may lose my dear girl for ever.
I have tried several experiments, but all in
vain; and unless you stand my friend, I shall
go distracted.

Infandum Regina juhes renovare dolorem.

In a great fuss, Your's most truly,

St. John's Coll. Cambridge.

P. S. Regina is not her name, don't imagine that. May
I be allow'd to say, I am very anxious for an immediate
answer, as she rides out again on Friday next.

In consequence of the above, I sent the case to my
Farrier, who forwarded directly some powders to Mr. Gilly-
flower

lER, A.3 '■ i.'TT PR-

flower with the following Note. The efficacy being so cer-
tain, the trifling indelicacy of the prescription must be ex-
cused.

Honoured Sir,
By advice from Mr. Gambado of your horse's complaint,
I have sent you a powder so strong, that if administer'd
night and morning in his corn, will be bold to say no horse
in England shall ever fart again after Thursday next. Shall
be very thankful for your Honour's custom in the same way
in future, and your Lady's too, if agreeable; being,
Honoured Sir,

Your Servant to command,

At ray House at Cheshunt every day. Hor�es shod agreeable to
nature and according to art.

G. Gilhjfioieer, Esq. St. Johns Coll. Cambridge.

Additional Memorandum.

I thought it necessary to employ my Draughtsman, to
delineate an interview, between a Gentleman and Lady
enamour'd of each other, mounted on horses, labouring
under the infirmity mentioned in the above letter. The at-
titude of the animals at these times, is admirably singular;
and has such an effect on the Rider, as always to attract his
eyes towards the tail, to see what is the matter. Indeed the
back becomes somewhat like that of a camel, until all is

HORSEMANSHIP. 35

ventilated. I have seen so many things of this kind, that I
am concern'd for the young Lady's feelings, on this occa-
sion, knowing they must be great. But still, those feelings,
well delineated, might have as fine an effect as Le Bran's
Passions.�I fear, however, my friend Wood, and his pre-
scriptions, will be in disgrace; for a day or two ago, the



ANNALS OF HORSEMANSHIP: CONTAINING ACCOUNTS OP ACCIDENTAL EXPERIMENTS, AND EXPERIMENTAL ACCIDENTS, BOTH SUCCESSFUL AND UNSUCCESSFUL: COMMUNICATED BY VARIOUS CORRESPONDENTS TO GEOFFREY GAMBADO, Esq. AUTHOR OF THE ACADEMY FOR GROWN HORSEMEN; TOGETHER WITH MOST INSTRUCTIVE REMARKS THEREON, AND ANSWERS THERETO, BY THAT ACCOMPLISHED GENIUS. AND NOW FIRST PUBLISHED, BY THE EDITOR OF THE ACADEMY FOR GROWN HORSEMEN.

		ILLUSTRATED WITH CUTS BY THE MOST EMINENT ARTISTS.

	LONDON: PRINTED SY W. NICHOLSON, WARNER STREET, FOR W. BAYNES, 54, PATERNOSTER ROW.

			1808.



4 ANNALS OF

	The schemes for puzzling Christians, I suppose, dropt out of the letter, for I never got it. There are, however, so many schemes of that sort already about town, that it is no loss, I dare say. *G.G.* My Correspondent, I believe, did not dislike sitting for his picture�there appears such an amiable smirk in his counte- nance, and he says too it is esteemed a likeness.

		Note to Letter the First. Although this Puzzle for a Christian, as he calls it, was dropt, I can conceive its being of use, if put upon one of those long story-tellers who catch hold of your button, and thrust their nose and mouth in your face, when perhaps it is highly necessary to keep them at arms length. In the adjoining Plate, therefore, are delineated not only the Canini and Equestrian, but also the Christian Puzzle.

			LETTER



	**y'/^:. ■ ':...". ' A**

		"P, i
				:t< )j
' I'M M ' '■' V; ^; '			LLC*



,-/■■■■ . -,-■ ' ■..-.

			*: '*
	'/ I '/'		*: '*
	'/ I '/'

		*TA XT*



		HORSEMANSHIP. 35

ventilated. I have seen so many things of this kind, that I am concern'd for the young Lady's feelings, on this occa- sion, knowing they must be great. But still, those feelings, well delineated, might have as fine an effect as Le Bran's Passions.�I fear, however, my friend Wood, and his pre- scriptions, will be in disgrace; for a day or two ago, the learned Dr. --------of St. John's College (the same to which Mr. Gillyflower belongs), call'd on me for an ointment to make the hair grow on his horse's tail; and talking about Mr. Gillyflower's horse, he said he knew him; and that he had bought him out of the Duke of Norfolk's Stud. I then told the Doctor of the awkward infirmity he had; upon which, he said, he was not a bit surpriz'd, for the horse was got by Phlegon, and Phlegon was one of the Sun's horses he drove in his chariot; and that Phlegon and the other three were all got by the winds *; so that no Wood in the king- dom would be able to get his windy tricks out of him. Mr. Gillyflower being a scholar, might have known as much, methinks. G. G.

	* Naturum (observed the Doctor) expellas furea tamen usque recurret.

			*LETTER*



			THE EDITOR to the READER.

		The Public is in high luck to obtain any thing more that comes from the pen of Geof- frey Gambado. A former publication has nearly immortalized him, and I trust the pre- sent will do it completely. It is true this work is chiefly composed of Letters addrest to him, but his remarks and replies are added to them; and had it not been for Geoffrey, such letters had never made their appearance; perhaps never been written. What had been such a loss to the community! I will venture to affirm that few, very few, have heard of such extraordinary cases, such novel ideas, and such obvious and salutary advice as are contained in



			THE EDITOR TO

		in the following* pages. Were I to mention the odd place in which I found the MSS. copy of this work, it might create laughter� " A passion hateful to my purposes:" For having the safety of man's neck in my eye at this present writing, I think it no laughing matter; and shall therefore deem it sufficient to say, I have found it, and have now the sa- tisfaction of laying it before the world. A paltry publication has lately made its appearance, on the same construction as this. It is a periodical thing, entitled The Annals of Agriculture, and will, I dare say, be of much use in the chandlers shops. This too, like Geoffrey's edifying collection of letters, treats on propagation, cultivation, preserva- tion, the good of the nation, Sfc. 8fc. But when we once consider for a moment the different objects the authors claim our atten- tion in behalf of�Should even a potatoe enter the



		THE READER. v the lists with a poney, my blood rises�my choler is excited. Talk of propagation! Would the blockheads have us hesitate between a horse chesnut, and a chesnut horse! Common sense forbids it (particularly as it is to be the fashionable co- lour in harness this time five years); and as for preservation�Which should humanity first extend her arm to save? A cabbage or a cockney�A captain or a cauliflower? For these reasons I lament seeing, monthly, the names of several respectable friends of mine, affixed to a work of such subordinate considera- tion. Had they spent as much time in riding upon turnips, as they have in writing upon them, they might ere now have belonged to the first hunts in the country, and most fashionable clubs in town. But I fear the silk purse and the sows ear are but too applicable to most of them. In the ladies, however, Geoffrey will un- B doubtedly



			THE READER.

		pears, that Mr. Gambado was somewhat irritable, as in a postscript, page 7, he ra- ther snubs his correspondent for asking" his advice. It should likewise seem that he was at this time rather short of cash, for he appears to have given advice for a fee; and once, if I recollect, treats of bad shillings. This, in- deed, might a little sour his natural disposi- tion, which I have reason to believe, from his physiognomy, was placid and amiable. I am told he seldom rode himself; and the only time he went six miles on horseback, he wore a pair of Diaculum drawers. That such an author should be no rider may appear mar- vellous at first, but, on reflection, we must acknowledge that we daily find people speak- ing and writing on what they know nothing at all about. Herein Geoffrey exceeds all I ever heard of: for such a book of knowledge as his Academy for Grown Horsemen, never yet made an appearance in the world. The



		x THE EDITOR, &c. stinking fish, that never could be of service to man, woman, or beast! whereas the drawers, like the North-west passage, if they could be once discovered, might prove hereafter of the greatest fundamental consequence to mankind at large, the Venetians only excepted.

			The Editor.





		ADVERTISEMENT. IT clearly appears from the Preface to the following Work, that it was compiled prior to Mr. Gambados appointment of Master of the Horse to the Doge of Venice; for it seems he had never at that time been above six miles from home. To most of the Plates the Editor has thought ft to subjoin Latin mottos, as an elucidation of them to such of his Readers as do not un- derstand English; and such he may perhaps meet with.



			GEOFFREY GAMBADO TO THE READER.

		I flatter myself the following compilation will not prove unwelcome to the Public; it blends information with amusement, and confirms how general is the thirst for know- ledge in the present times, which is not to be idly checked by the loss of a limb or a life. The adventurers of this age are divided into two classes�per mare, per terras�of which latter description are my correspond- ents. Those of the former, fancy they dis- cover much, by being at sea for months to- gether without sight of land�by the wanting wine and water, and getting neither�but at length espying something like an island un- D known;



		xiv GEOFFREY GAMBADO TO known; it is perhaps more like an owzle than any one laid down in the charts. They do actually discover, however, that the natives will not let them go ashore, and that they must return as wise as they came. They dis- cover that they have little left to eat, and less to drink; that they must live by sucking each others shirts for half a year, arrive miraculously at home, and write a book about it. My Correspondents are of a different stamp; they discover that there is much left unfound out at home, and seem to be meritoriously employed in consequence. Going abroad, with them, I take to be only going out of the house and seeing the world, a laudable ride of a dozen miles. This opinion of seeing the world tempts me to digress a little. My apothecary, a man of knowledge and judg- ment, but who, no more than myself, had ever been above six miles from home, being obliged



		/ THE READER.

			obliged to visit a patient at the distance of twenty, actually returned in amazement, and assured me, he could not have thought the world was so big. These were his very words�and was not it mighty natural? To shew how much of the natural he had in him, I cannot refrain from adding, that, having passed a turnpike or two, for the first time, in this excursion, he was in raptures at the piety of the people thereabouts; for he told me, that they had the Belief and the Ten Commandments painted upon blue boards at every gate�though he passed through and could not read them, having left his spectacles at home. Pardon, gentle Reader, this digression, which has informed you of an anecdote rather extra- ordinary. If you do not believe it, and should find out the subject, who was himself the nar- rator; don't venture to tell him so�He is a passionate man, rather inclined to let blood, and



		xvi GEOFFREY GAMBADO TO and may perhaps, if you commit yourself to him, put you to death. To return to business�The letters I have received have required a clever arrangement; and I thought it better to add my answers, or remarks, immediately to each, than to huddle the letters into one part and the answers into a second. Cuts were also thought necessary towards the clearing up of some of the most blind descriptions of awkward situations and queer accidents which, I confess, are, here and there, but lamely made out by the writers. I wish my delineator may have succeeded in those I set him to. Several I have received, inclosed in letters from the sufferers, or ex- perimental philosophers themselves, many of which are frightfully descriptive. I request my Readers will be more attentive to what is contained in the following pages, than they were to my History of Cruppers, this being of a much more serious tendency� and



		LETTER THE FIRST Mr. Gambado! I return you my most hearty thanks for the very salutary advice you sent me last month, from which I have derived much improvement, and should have acknow- ledged sooner, had I made sufficient trial of the fine machine you recommended in such warm terms. My Hobby, as I told you be- fore, is an admirable animal, and finely cal- culated for a pensive man, like myself, to take the air upon. It was a pity he was so prone to tumble, and that too, in stony roads the most; for he was otherwise bordering on per- fection. So I sent for a carpenter, on the receipt of your recipe, and had a large Puzzle of Oak made for him, after the pattern of those



			2 ANNALS OF

		those worn by the Squire's Pointers; and I have found it answer prodigiously. I have had nothing like a bad fall lately, except one day in cantering over a ploughed field, where, upon a blunder, the machine entered the ground with such force as to in- troduce a portion of the Hobby's head along with it. We came clean over, and for some time I thought my Hobby's neck was broke. I did not mind it myself, but I shall take care in future always to gallop on the hard road, and then such another catastrophe cannot ensue. I am, Sir, Your very obsequious humble Servant, Caleb Cassock. Eye, Suffolk. P. S. I forgot to tell you my Parishioners stare at me a good deal. The machine has an odd appearance, I own; but not altogether unpicturesque. I got the Drawing- master of Mr. Birch's school to send you a sketch of me. It



		HORSEMANSHIP. 3

	It is esteemed a likeness. That of the Hobby is rather flattering. I have sent you also a sketch of my Puzzle for Dog and Horse, and a scheme for puzzling a Christian,

MY REMARKS. I am happy to find the Puzzle has answered so well; and I doubt not, now it has been tried and approved by such a right-headed, Reverend Gentleman, one who is also so good a horseman, and understands all the matter so well, that, by producing his name, I shall be able to get a patent for it, which cannot but prove very lucrative; for who has the horse that he will swear will never tumble down ? This I believe would be a question that would pose (upon oath) every man on horseback in Hyde Park on a Sunday. Though Dr. Shaw himself, who is a great traveller indeed, has the modesty to assure us, that the Barbary horses never lie down; yet even he has not the effrontery to say that they never tumble down! I received the sketches of the Puzzles for Dogs and Horses; and hold it fit an etching should be made of them, for the information of those who never saw such machines. F The



			HORSEMANSHIP. g

		LETTER THE SECOND Sir, Your fame having reached us here, I set down with pleasure to write to a man who I am certain will have an equal plea- sure in satisfying the doubts that now occupy my mind. I would proceed and state every difficulty I find in the treatment and guidance of a horse, to which animal I confess I am rather an alien, although I have happily at- tained (yesterday it was) my thirty-fifth year. I was bred to a business that debarred me from an amusement for which I seem formed by nature, being, Sir, very short in the fork, and what our wits call duck legged, and all my weight lying atop: and it was not till I emerged, as I may say, from the counting house,



			6 ANNALS OF

		house, that I could make a trial of my abilities as a horseman. I really think I am going on well, that I am in a state of daily amendment and progressive improvement. The questions I have to put to you Sir are so short and simple that I will not divert your attention from them a bit longer, but put them down as they arise �they require nothing but an answer, QUERIES. 1. What part of my horse must I lay hold of to help me up, for his mane is cut off? 1. If he will turn to the left when I want to go to the right, how can I help it ? 3. If he slips his girths, and the crupper is of no use* what will supply its place ? 4. Should he tumble down by day-light, whether you think he would in the dark ? 5. What a breast-plate is? We have heard of it here, but our Sadler does not know how to make one. The Adjutant of the Militia says it is a sort of armour, to pre- vent the horse hurting himself by running against a waggon or a wall. But I say it can't be; because the horse's head should



		HORSEMANSHIP. 7

	should be armed, as that would hit the wall first, and pre- vent his breast receiving any damage. Pray solve this by return of post, as many bets are depending on it at our next Club. 6. How can I keep a horse cheap ? 7- What is my best way to sell a bad horse, if I don't like him ? These are a few of the trifling questions I shall beg leave to trouble you with from time to time: and as it will be extremely easy, and, I dare say, agreeable to you, to answer them, I shall make no apology but with my as- surance that I am, Sir, Your devoted and very humble Servant, Samuel Fill agree. G. Gambado, Esq.

This fellow, with his assurance, appeared to be such a puppy, I could not answer him for some months ; indeed his queries rather posed me; but his fees came in fast, and I was fain to solve them as well as I could. The first I left to his better judgment, only suggesting that the ear of the horse and the pommel of the saddle Q were



		& ANNALS OF

	were all that offered themselves in lieu of a mane, if his horse had none. The second I could not assist him in. The folly of the third raised my choler, and involving with it the fifth, I had not patience to enter on either of them: so I fear the betts at the Club are not yet decided. The fourth and sixth were extremely easy to be answered; I never met with two queries more so. But the seventh skilful as I am, I confess I could not reply to, to my Cor- respondent's satisfaction: and I shall be much bound to any of my Readers, who will tell me, how the business therein stated is to be brought about; being ever open to convic- tion, and not yet too old to learn. G. G.

LETTER THE THIRD. From a Half-way House between Cambridge and Newmarket. Sir, March 26, 1789. Having long been earnestly en- gaged in the study of mathematical science and being fond of riding, two pursuits usually thought incompatible, I have been enabled, by means of this singular union, to strike out some important discoveries in both branches. The mathematical



		HORSEMANSHIP. 9 mathematical improvements in riding will, I hope, deserve a place in the Annals of Horse- manship: my equestrian discoveries in mathe- matics you must permit me to reserve for the Ladies Diary. My love for equestrian agitation is, I be- lieve, more general than that of any other person; for whatever satisfaction may be usually experienced by riders while they con-* tinue on the backs of their horses, I have ne- ver yet met with or been informed of one, who received any sensible delight from the circumstance of being violently projected from the saddle. But here, Sir, from my passionate fondness for the mathematics, I enjoy a mani- fest advantage. From the concussions, reper- cussions, and every other kind of compound motion which can be generated consistently with the due support of the centre of gravity, I enjoy, I will venture to say, at least as much satisfaction as any other rider: and at the time of being thrown off, or, in more proper lan- guage,



		10 ANNALS OF guage, projected from the horse, I experience a peculiar delight in recollecting that* by the universal laws of projectiles, I must, in my flight through the air, describe that beautiful conic section, a parabola. After some accidents of this nature, I have been fortunate enough, notwithstanding the violent re-action of the ground in consequence of the strong action of my skull against it, to preserve my sense sufficiently to be able to as- certain the curve so generated by my body to describe it on paper, and demonstrate its pe- culiar properties: and am not without hope, if I can meet with horses not too sure-footed, by frequent experiments, to determine what kind of parabola it is safest to describe; which pro- blem will, I apprehend, be found very serviceable in practice, at the City Hunt in Easter week, and during the celebration of Epsom races. Not long ago, by a particular convulsion of the animal from which I was so fortunate as to fall, I was very irregularly thrown to the earth, but



		HORSEMANSHIP. 11 but had the satisfaction afterwards to discover that the curve described in my fall was a seg- ment of a very eccentric ellipse, of which the saddle was one focus; and that it was nearly, if not exactly, the same with the path of the comet now expected to return. And once, by a succussation still more anomalous, I was happy enough to describe a new curve, which I found to possess some very amazing proper- ties; and I hope effectually to immortalize my own name, by calling it Angles first Hippo- piptic * curve. The first equestrian problem that I ever set myself to discover was this; " When by pull- ing the reins you prevent a horse from falling, where is the fulcrum or prop?�and how is the horse's centre of gravity prevented from being thrown beyond the base of his legs ?" I will not trouble you now with the particulars

			* Hippopiptic expresses the mode of the curve's generation in falling from a horse:�from Hippos, a horse, and pipto, to fall. I call it first, because I hope by the same means to discover more hereafter. H of



		12 ANNALS OF of this difficult investigation; but shall only say, that it turned out greatly to the honour of demipique saddles; which, accordingly, in the Mathematical Elements of Riding, that I mean hereafter to publish, I shall recommend very strongly in a Corollary. A learned Student in Mathematics has long published his ability and desire to construct breeches upon geometrical principles. Mr. Nunn is certainly ingenious, and his breeches, a few salient angles excepted, admir- able; but the artist who should make bridles, saddles, and other equestrian paraphernalia, by the rules of pure mathematics, would render a much more praise-worthy service to the Public. For if the flimsy leather of breeches require Mr. Nunn's advertisement is as follows: " BREECHES-MAKING improved by GEOMETRY." " Thomas Nunn, Breeches-maker, No. 2.9, Wigmore-street, Caven- dish-square, has invented a system on a mathematical principle, by which difficulties are solved, and errors corrected: its usefulness for ease and neatness in fitting, is incomparable, and is the only perfect rule for that work ever discovered. Several hundreds (noblemen, gentle- men, and others) who have had proof of its utility, allow it to excel all they ever made trial of." geometrical



		HORSEMANSHIP. 13 geometrical cutting, how much more necessary must it be to the tough hide which forms the bridle ? and to what purpose will the geometry in the breeches operate, if the saddle, by which they are to be supported, and whose superfices they are to touch in as many points as possible, be formed ungeometrically? But I forbear to expatiate on a matter as plain as an axiom of Euclid; trusting that whoever can perceive the utility of geometrical breeches, will readily argue, a fortiori, to the absolute necessity of geometrical saddles and bridles. Pursuing my principles, I have demon- strated what is the right line to be drawn by the mathematical rider in every difficult situa- tion. In ascending a horse's back, at what angle to extend the moveable leg, while the fixed one is rested in the stirrup: in leaping, how to regulate the oscillation, or balancing, of the body, by attending carefully to that fundamental point which is your centre of motion: in starting, how to dispose of the su- perfluous



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		perfluous momentum, and thereby to preserve in full force the attraction of cohesion between rump and saddle: in rearing, at what angle, formed by the horse's back with the plane of the horizon, it is most advisable to slide down over his tail: which, I maintain, is the only expedient that can be practised with a mathe- matical certainty of being safe: these, and many other important secrets, I am ready, at any time when called upon, to communicate. One I cannot even now withhold, which is this: that there is no good or truly geometri- cal riding, unless the legs be extended perfect- ly in straight lines, so as to form tangents to the cylindrical surface of the horse's body: in a word, to resemble, as much as possible, a pair of compasses set astride upon a telescope; which I conceive to be the perfect model of mathematical riding. But besides this application of pure geome- try, it has often struck me, that too little use is made, in riding, of the principles of mixed mathematics.



		~ HORSEMANSHIP. 15 mathematics. Consider, Mr. Gambado, the six mechanical powers! the lever, the wheel and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw; and reflect with what advantage all these may be applied to the uses of Horsemanship. By means of a lever, hav- ing an elevated fulcrum raised on the pommel of the saddle, an entire stop might be put to the practice of falling; except where the prac- titioner should voluntarily take a tumble, for the express purpose of studying the Parabola, or Hippopiptic Curve. The ivheel and axle is already applied in the use of horses, though not in any branch of Horsemanship, except the driving of post-chaises; but is also found so efficacious in preventing falls, that where a horse has been used to that assistance, it is not reckoned safe to ride him without. The ap- plication of the wedge might, undoubtedly, very materially improve the art of figging. The screw might, with advantage, be applied to the direction of the horses head with more ex- I actness,



		16 ANNALS OF actness, and consequently enable the rider to guide his course with mathematical accuracy. The inclined plane might happily be introduced to facilitate the backward slide of the rider at the time of rearing, as above mentioned. And a system ofpullies, in the nature of Mr. Smeaton's, by giving the rider a force equal to the action of many thousand pounds weight, might for ever put an end to the dangerous vice of running away. By the use of the principles of astronomy, I have invented a mode of taking the exact al- titude of any horse, at two observations; and am at present at work on a Hippodromo- meter *, to ascertain the velocity of his course in the very act of riding. But while I boast, and^ I trust, with reason, of these discoveries, I must candidly confess that a rigorous attention to theory has some- times betrayed me into practical errors. When my horse has been pulling earnestly one way,

			* From Hippos a horse, dromos a course, and metrein to measure. my



		HORSEMANSHIP. 17 my own intention being at the same time to go another, I have pulled strongly at right angles to the line of his course; expecting, from the laws of compound motion, that we should then proceed, neither in the line of his effort nor of my pull, but in an intermediate one, which would be the diagonal of the pa- rallelogram, of which our forces were as the sides; but have always found that this method produced a rotatory instead of a rectilinear mo- tion. When a horse has run away, I have, to avoid the waste of force in my own arms, cal- culated the necessary diminution of it in his legs; but, unfortunately, estimating it as the squares of the distances multiplied into the times, I was frequently dashed against walls, pitched over gates, and plunged into ponds, be- fore I discovered that it is not as the squares of the times, but merely as the times. I men- tion these circumstances by way of caution to other theorists; not being at all discouraged myself by such trifling failures, and hoping, by your



			18 ANNALS OF your assistance, to convince the world that no man can ever become a perfect rider, unless he has first made mathematics his hobby-horse. You will pardon this innocent play of words on a subject so serious, and believe me to be, Sir, with great esteem, Yours, &c. Habakkuk Angle.

		LETTER THE FOURTH. To Mr. G. Gambado. Sir, I want your advice, and hope you will give it me, concerning a horse I have lately bought, and which does not carry me at all in the same way he did the man I bought him of. Being recommended to a Dealer in Moorfields (who I rather think is no honester than he ought to be), I went to him, and desired to look into his stable, and so he took me in; with a long whip in his hand, which he said was to wake



		HORSEMANSHIP. 19 wake the horses that might perhaps be asleep, as they were but just arrived from a long jour- ney, coming fresh from the breeders in the North. There were some fine looking geld- ings, I thought, and I pitched upon one that I thought would suit me; and so he was saddled, and I desired the Dealer to mount him, and he did, and a very fine figure the gelding cut; and so the people in the street said; and a decent man, in a scratch wig, said, the man that rode him knew how to make the most of him; and so I bought him. But he goes in a different manner with me, for instead of his capering like a Trooper, he hangs down his head and tail, and neither whip nor spur can get him out of a snail's gallop. And I want to know whe- ther by law I must keep him, as he is not cer- tainly the horse I took him for; and therefore I ought to have my money again. The Limner in our lane was with me when I bought him, and has taken a picture of him as he was with the Dealer on his back, and K another



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		another as he now goes with me upon his back; by which you will see the difference, and judge better how to advise me upon it. I am, Sir, your humble Servant, Tobias Higgins. Lavender Row, Shoreditch. Please to direct to Mr. T. H. Back-maker; or it may go to my Namesake, the Turncock.

Reply to Letter the Fourth, Sir, Upon a strict examination of the two pictures by the Limner in your lane, I am clear you are in possession of the identical horse you intended to purchase, although he does not exhibit quite so much agility under you, or make so tearing a figure as when mounted by Mr.-----who I am well acquainted with, and who, you may depend upon, is as honest a man as any that deals in horse flesh. You could have no right to return the horse if he



	HORSEMANSHIP. 21

he went no better than one with his legs tied. You stand in the predicament of Lord P-----, who gave twenty guineas for Punch, and when he found he could not make him speak, prosecuted the Puppet-shew-man; but my Lord Chief Justice adjudged the man to keep his money, and my Lord, his Punch, although he could not get a word out of him. My opinion is, Sir, as you ask it: that the decent man in the scratch wig made a very sensible remark, when he observed, that my friend Mr.-----knew how to make the most of a horse, and I am satisfied that you, Sir, know with equal facility, how to make the least of one. I am, Sir, your humble Servant, G. Gambado, P. S. I am sorry to add, my Maid tells me, that two shillings out of your five were very bad ones.

		LETTER