The Life of a Great Sportsman 



At the present time the opinion is general amongst prac- 

 tical men with the welfare of their country at heart that, with 

 the supply of horses for our cavalry being totally inadequate, 

 some scheme should be set on foot in order to give an impetus 

 to their production. 



Here is another instance of history repeating itself, for it 

 is on record that when, something like eight hundred years B.C., 

 the Greeks found themselves at the Battle of Marathon utterly 

 destitute of cavalry, the tardy recognition of horse-racing was 

 assigned as the reason, with the result that in future the sport 

 formed a prominent feature at the great National Festival at 

 Elis. There were " Gentlemen Riders " even in those days, 

 amongst whom Philip of Macedon and Hiero of Syracuse 

 seem to have occupied pretty much the same position that 

 Messrs. Lushington and George Thursby do in our own time, 

 and they all rode bareback, with no other assistance than a 

 bridle. 



It was at the Olympic Games, too, when the first specimen 

 of a war-horse was exhibited, that Art received its earliest 

 stimulus to improve what has been rightly termed the " noblest 

 animal in creation." 



With these examples before us, why should not John Bull 

 take the hint by giving a little more encouragement to home 

 breeders, especially among the smaller class, than he is now 

 doing, and so make it worth their while to replenish his empty 

 cavalry stables with better, and probably cheaper, material 

 than is the case at the present time ? 



It is hardly necessary to point out that to attain to any 

 success in race-riding it is absolutely necessary to keep fit, and 

 here, perhaps, I may be able to give some advice which will be 

 useful to the novice. 



Many young men labour under the impression that by 



220 



