Cottle, in his Life of Coleridge, relates the following amusing
incident:--
“I led the horse to the stable, when a fresh perplexity arose. I removed
the harness without difficulty; but, after many strenuous attempts, I
could not remove the collar. In despair, I called for assistance, when
aid soon drew near. Mr. Wordsworth brought his ingenuity into exercise;
but, after several unsuccessful efforts, he relinquished the
achievement, as a thing altogether impracticable. Mr. Coleridge now
tried his hand, but showed no more grooming skill than his predecessors;
for, after twisting the poor horse’s neck almost to strangulation and
the great danger of his eyes, he gave up the useless task, pronouncing
that the horse’s head must have grown (gout or dropsy?) since the collar
was put on; for he said ‘it was a downright impossibility for such a
huge _os frontis_ to pass through so narrow a collar!’ Just at this
instant, a servant-girl came near, and, understanding the cause of our
consternation, ‘La! master,’ said she, ‘you don’t go about the work in
the right way. You should do like this,’ when, turning the collar
completely upside down, she slipped it off in a moment, to our great
humiliation and wonderment, each satisfied afresh that there were
heights of knowledge in the world to which we had not yet attained.”