The mysterious terracotta “Baronet” relief on Ye Racehorse Inne, 212 Elm Grove, Brighton

I suggest that it is the iconisation of the Stubbs portrait of George (later the) IV’s most successful horse, ridden in a distinctive flying gallop by his favourite jockey, Old Sam Chifney; and that the depiction of boots and reins without a rider symbolises George’s disgust at the termination of Chifney’s career by the Jockey Club following a race-rigging scandal.

How Emperor Charles V ended up talking German to his horse (1)

Domain-based code-switching from Daniel Bomberg’s Jerusalem Talmud to Hieronymus Fabricius’ De locutione. Featuring the wit and wisdom of Rabbi Jonathan of Beth Gubrin, Padua’s medical school and Jewry, and the Polish utopian Jan Zamoyski. With excerpts from Fellini’s I Clowns and a bodice-ripper by Kent M Chater, whose Agent Alighieri claims that “Like the great Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain I speak Spanish with God, French with men, German to my horse, and Italian to the ladies.”

Charles V and his horse discussing sociolinguistics before the Battle of Mühlberg (Titian <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carlos_V_en_M%C3%BChlberg,_by_Titian,_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg'>@Prado</a>).