James Newsome was also a member of the very talented company which
Hernandez and his partners had brought together under the roof of Drury
Lane. After completing his engagement with Batty, and entering into
matrimonial obligations with Pauline Hinné, he had proceeded to Paris,
where he applied himself earnestly to the art of which he soon became a
leading master, namely, the breaking of horses in what is termed the
_haute école_, then almost unknown in this country. The fame which he
acquired in Paris procured him an engagement in Brussels, where he
taught riding to the Guides, by whose officers he was presented, on
leaving the Belgian capital, with a service of plate. From Brussels he
proceeded to Berlin, of which city Madame Newsome is a native. There the
famous English riding master added to his laurels by breaking a vicious
horse named Mirza, belonging to Prince Frederick William (now heir to
the imperial crown of Germany), who presented him with the animal, in
recognition of his skill. It may here be added, that he had the honour,
some years afterwards, of exhibiting his system of horse-breaking before
the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, by whom it was highly
commended.
On the termination of their season at Drury Lane, Hernandez and his
partners associated Newsome with themselves in the firm, and made a
successful tour of the provinces. In the following season, however,
Newsome separated from his partners, and started a well-appointed circus
of his own. The distinctive features of his establishment are, that he
breaks his horses himself—other circus proprietors, not having the
advantage of himself, Batty, and Ducrow, of being trained in the
profession, being compelled to hire horse-breakers; and that the
performances are not given under a tent, set up for a couple of days
only, and then removed to the next town, as in the case of most other
circuses, but in buildings erected for the purpose in most of the large
towns of the north of England, and permanently maintained.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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