A man on horseback struggles to maintain control of his horse as it rears its hind legs, sending a boy scrambling away in the foreground on the right. In the background, another man looks on and grins at the prank he has played with his stick in the horse’s tail; he stands in front of a building (an inn?) with a sign hanging above the entrance.
- Artist: Bunbury, Henry William, 1750-1811, artist.
- Title: Hard hearted Grower gives poor Boots his due, or Boots at posting has a Rig for you – Anon [art original].
- Production: [England], [approximately 1790?]
Drawings B87 no. 32 Box D200
Acquired February 2024
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.
