THE TEST OF HORSEMANSHIP. 4I 



there have been visitors from nearly every country 

 of Europe, who have ridden well and boldly in the 

 huntinor-fields of Ensfland. 



The man who ' takes his horse by the head,' and 

 pushes it boldly at a six-foot wall, finds himself ' at 

 sea' when mounted upon a well-bitted hack, and 

 I have heard of more than one fox-hunter who 

 could not ride the light-mouthed Spanish-American 

 horses. If the cross-country rider has a seat that 

 will permit him to ride over obstacles without the 

 support of the reins, he has one of the attributes of 

 a good horseman, that is, a firm seat. But he must 

 still prove that he has , the knowledge of how to 

 control the movements of the horse before he can 

 be held accomplished in the art. If it be admitted 

 that a man can ride well across country without 

 possessing good hands and an unexceptionable seat 

 — leaving out of the question an accurate know- 

 ledge of the use of the aids — it follows that a good 

 horseman may be a good man to hounds, but not 

 that a good man to hounds is necessarily a good 

 horseman. So prejudiced are some minds against 

 anything that looks like art in horsemanship, that I 

 have known accepted authorities upon the subject 

 to say that a schooled rider would not be able to 

 ride to hounds as well as one who has learned 

 riding through his unaided efforts ; as if a man who 



