His horse was literally covered with various trappings,
in the way of cavesons, martingales, and Heaven knows how many other
(to me) unknown inventions. The saddle was _a la Hussarde_ with
holsters, in which he always carried pistols. His dress consisted of
a nankeen jacket and trousers, which appeared to have shrunk from
washing; the jacket embroidered in the same colour, and with three
rows of buttons; the waist very short, the back very narrow, and the
sleeves set in as they used to be ten or fifteen years before; a black
stock, very narrow; a dark-blue velvet cap with a shade, and a very
rich gold band and large gold tassel at the crown; nankeen gaiters,
and a pair of blue spectacles, completed his costume, which was any
thing but becoming. This was his general dress of a morning for
riding, but I have seen it changed for a green tartan plaid jacket. He
did not ride well, which surprised us, as, from the frequent allusions
to horsemanship in his works, we expected to find him almost a Nimrod,
It was evident that he had _pretensions_ on this point, though he
certainly was what I should call a timid rider.
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