An older gentleman is on horseback strapped into a contraption that limits the horses movement (as such, it won’t move above a trot pace), limits any jolting movements and also provides shade and cover through the attachment of an umbrella. In the left background, a horseman struggles to control his horse as a panicked lady watches on and his top hat flies off behind him. To the right a male onlooker peers through his monocle in awe of the timid horsemen’s contraption.
- Title: Riding apparatus for timid horsemen [graphic].
- Publication: London : Pubd. by T. McLean, 26 Haymarket, Jan. 1, 1830.
- Manufacture: [London] : Printed by J. Netherclift.
830.01.01.09+
Acquired November 2020
A view of the interior of a riding-school: A number of men riding round in a circle; those in the foreground ride from right to left, those in the background from left to right. The riding-master stands in the centre, pointing with hand and cane, and grinning at a short fat man in a clerical wig who is running across the room, alarmed at the horses. A short obese man in back-view on the extreme right, who is about to mount his horse has been identified as Captain Grose. Next him is a man with a grotesque impression of alarm riding a plunging horse. Among the riders are two with clerical wigs. One horse is galloping, out of control, the others are quietly ambling round. Two sides of a high rectangular room or hall are visible; in each wall are two high arch-topped windows.
A fat parson riding (right to left) on a small horse arrives at the high iron gate of his house, which is seen in the background. He points arrogantly to a groom in livery, who stands (left) holding another horse whose front half appears on the left. The groom raises his hat. A butler stands in front of the gate. In the distance among trees (right) is a church spire.
A man on horseback, whip in hand but not in use, is shown attempting to clear a stile flanked by hedgerows; his horse’s forelegs are on the ground and one of its hind legs caught between the slats. Behind them, a second rider with a look of consternation raises his whip as he comes up behind.
A family of three on horseback riding down a country road, seen from behind with the man in the centre and flanked by the two women in a baskets, in plain, house in the left middle distance.
