28 RIDING 



carried away, furnishes strong temptation to follow instead of to 

 lead, not to mention the obvious convenience of being quite cer- 

 tain before committing oneself to the leap that neither quarry 

 nor cattle-pit yawns on the hither side ; and the value of these 

 privileges is never more highly esteemed than by one whose 

 mount is from the pace, or want of condition, beginning to show 

 signs of distress. For some minds too the unknown is devoid 

 of charm. ' Now Sir H.,' shouted Lord Gardner in a quick 

 burst from Ranksborough gorse, as they approached a nasty 

 overgrown hedge with but one feasible spot anywhere near their 

 line, ' which is to be first, you or I ? ' 'If you put it in that 

 way,' replied Sir H., ' I should greatly prefer your going first, 

 as I should like to know what's on t'other side.' Over went his 

 Lordship, and over went his complacent follower, both perfectly 

 satisfied. It is always well to have the courage of one's opinions. 



On the other hand in many countries, such for instance as 

 the Blackmoor Vale, and parts of Gloucestershire and Wilt- 

 shire, where banks predominate, the man who goes first (bar 

 quarries and pits) generally has very much the best of it. 

 Either because the soil is not so congenial to the quickset, or 

 because providentially the art of training it is not so highly cul- 

 tivated (Leicestershire basket-work on the top of Gloucester- 

 shire banks would set Dr. 'A. Grace road-riding), the binders, 

 where there are any, are lower and weaker, and many places 

 are not bound at all, so that the ditch (often a blind one), the 

 bank, and brush thorns, form the obstacle. The first comer 

 therefore has the firmest foothold, and the leverage of whatever 

 strength there may be in the bank, but as in his transit he 

 displaces a certain quantity of the earthwork, and possibly 

 kicks or rakes brambles over the already sufficiently obscure 

 ditch, his immediate successors have matters made worse 

 instead of better for them. 



Similarly, at a brook or wide open drain, except for the en- 

 couragement given to a faltering horse, and it must be granted 

 that most horses do falter at these chasms, the worst plan that can 

 be adopted is to follow, since at every hoof-stroke the banks are 



