18 THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN 



knowledge of human nature, justly remarks that 

 there are few men under twenty who would not feel 

 more ashamed of an imputation against their horse- 

 manship than their morality. The age might be 

 greatly extended ; yet I believe there is not one man 

 in a hundred who can acquire a good seat on horse- 

 back, if he has not been accustomed to the saddle 

 from boyhood. The riding-school may correct a few 

 faults, but it will never make an adult pupil a perfect 

 master of his horse. If a man does not possess this 

 advantage, he cannot do a more foolish thing than to 

 buy a horse at random, merely because it has the 

 outward qualifications that please his eye. I may 

 add too, that even in point of appearance, a bad 

 rider will look more ungraceful upon a spirited, high- 

 mettled horse, however showy, than on an animal of 

 more moderate pretensions, but whose temper is 

 more in accordance with the timidity of his rider. 

 Where, however, a man is less ambitious of show 

 than comfort, he cannot be too careful to ascertain 

 with certainly the extent of his riding powers ; nor 

 need he feel ashamed of asking a dealer's opinion on 

 this point ; for there is not a man in the trade who 

 cannot tell, the instant he is mounted, whether his 



