44 RIDING 



here to describe the points and peculiarities of all the innumer- 

 able varieties of saddle-horse that exist in different parts of the 

 world, nor will much space be devoted to the racehorse or to the 

 charger. It is true that the great object of racing is, or should 

 be, to improve the breed of horses for cavalry service, as was 

 lately set forth in a preface, written by the Editor of the present 

 Library, to an interesting French publication called * Les 

 Chevaux de Course.' ' En ce qui concerne la cavalerie,' his 

 Grace the Duke of Beaufort wrote, ' on cherche a avoir des 

 chevaux de premiere force, tres resistants, et pouvant supporter 

 la plus grande fatigue. C'est du pur sang seul que viennent de 

 pareils animaux ; seuls, les croisements repetes, avec le pur sang, 

 pourront donner aux chevaux de remonte le fonds qui leur est 

 indispensable.' These words will give to many persons a new 

 idea of the value of the racehorse ; but the troop-horse is not 

 primarily a creature devoted to- British sports and pastimes, 

 and so does not come under the scope of the present chapter, 

 which is to deal chiefly with the animal first suggested when 

 the saddle-horse is mentioned that is to say, the hack. 



The question is often asked, why it has become customary 

 to speak of the English as a nation of horsemen, and an answer 

 is rarely attempted. In some other lands the business of 

 life is conducted far more generally on horseback than in 

 England, and everyone rides as a matter of course ; but an 

 answer may be found in the fact that Englishmen ride chiefly 

 from choice, and the English are a nation whose chief sports 

 are associated with horses, whether the national sport par 

 excellence be racing or hunting. The very shape of the English 

 saddle seems to prove a love of the exercise of horsemanship. 

 In some countries the saddle is an elaborate structure into 

 which the rider is wedged, with a species of chair-back behind, 

 a corresponding elevation in front, and stirrups in the nature 

 of shoes. The Englishman, on the contrary, likes to be as 

 near his horse as he can ; even the padded saddle is often dis- 

 carded for one with plain flaps, and it is made as light as is 

 consistent with reasonable comfort. It is the same with bits. 



