“In offering the following pages to the public, the writer begs emphatically to disclaim any intention of laying down the law on such a subject as horsemanship. Every man who wears spurs believes himself more or less an adept in the art of riding; and it would be the height of presumption for one who has studied that art as a pleasure and not a profession to dictate for the ignorant, or enter the lists of argument with the wise. All he can lay claim to is a certain amount of experience, the result of many happy hours spent with the noble animal under him, of some uncomfortable minutes when mutual indiscretion has caused that position to be reversed.”
— GJ Whyte-Melville, Riding Recollections (1878)
Description: In Appalachia, there’s stories of a creature with a long tail and yellow eyes. According to legend, a hermit shot off the creature’s tail. Later that night, the creature came to the man’s cabin and demanded the tail back. After sicking his hounds at the beast, it returns and kills the man.
