But if the colours worn by the ladies were dazzling and gorgeous, what shall we say of the hues selected for the silk jackets of the gentlemen riders, who, in order to proclaim to the multitude the part they were about to take, hovered about amongst the crowd, like tropical butterflies who had lost their way? Indeed, so much importance is attached to the privilege of sporting silk, that it is no uncommon thing for a noble owner to carry a stone over his weight, in order to display jacket and boots on the course, rather than "give a leg up" to a lighter man. The events of the day were contended for principally by gentlemen "jocks;" and bets of a few guldens produced as much interest as if thousands of pounds had been staked. After passing an agreeable day (the larger portion of which was occupied in getting the amateur jocks to the post) I proceeded to find my team; and took a sly opportunity of making many alterations in the _attelage_, giving them all more room in their couplings and in their pole-pieces, middle bar instead of lower, and cheek to those I thought would bear it, buckling the traces (as near as I could) at even lengths, slacking all the curbs, and lengthening some of the head-stalls. The effect was marvellous; instead of the wild impetuous team I had brought up from the city, I had now four horses working evenly and pleasantly together, and, after the first quarter of a mile, not pulling an ounce more than they ought. Here let me repeat the maxim: "A team properly put together is half driven." CHAPTER X. North-country fairs--An untrained foxhunter--Tempted again--Extraordinary memory of the horse--Satisfactory results from a Latch-key. In former chapters I have spoken of coachmen and guards, both in the heyday and afternoon of their career--then, once qualified for this line of life, seldom exhibiting an inclination to change. But let me now descend to the coach _horse_. In the good old coaching days, so great was the demand, that breeders were found who devoted themselves to a class of animal calculated for coach work and little else. There was an understood price, and buyers for the contractors attended the North-country fairs and made their selection--twenty, fifty, or eighty horses, as required--the individual price never being referred to during the deal, so long as the average was not exceeded.