THE MILITARY SEAT. 91 



that very indefinite form called the hunting seat, or 

 rather what is supposed to represent it, has been mak- 

 ing considerable inroads into the domains of the riding- 

 master.* All we propose saying for the present is, that 

 the wash-ball seat is evidently not the proper thing 

 for military purposes, whilst, perhaps, " tongs across a 

 wall " may be, in reality, nothing more or less than the 

 progeny of a liaison with that respectable old lady the 

 haute ecole in fact, a mule seat. 



Let us pass in review the points of resemblance and 

 of difference between the two kinds of riding. The 

 former are but few in number, the latter very numer- 

 ous. The hunting man rides his own horse for his 

 own pleasure, and does not mind spoiling a steed or 

 two for the sake of maintaining his character as a for- 

 ward rider. Cavalry soldiers must ride* together almost 

 always : what regulates their speed is the average of a 

 whole regiment, and not the swiftness of a single ani- 

 mal. The Oriental national cavalries won't understand 

 this, and get beaten by riders who, taken singly, are 

 very inferior. Again, the hunting man's proper work is 

 all done at full gallop ; cavalry does at least five-eighths 

 of its work at a walk (route marching), perhaps two- 

 eighths in trot (manoeuvring), and certainly not more 

 than one-eighth at full gallop (in charging). The conclu- 

 sions to be drawn are, that even supposing the so-called 

 " hunting seat" to be the best for high speed, no Govern- 

 ment can afford the waste of horse-flesh it involves, nor 



* The father of a young cornet recently gazetted told the author 

 that his son had been advised by a brother officer to conceal the 

 fact of his being a " 'cross-country " rider on joining his regiment, 

 as otherwise the riding-master would keep him twice as long under 

 his hands. 



