CHAPTER II. 

 BEGINNING TO RIDE. 



IT is by no means imperative for a person to begin early in 

 life in order to become a good, or even a finished horse- 

 man. Some of the straightest riders I have known, never 

 mounted a horse before they were twenty-one or even older. 

 I must, however, admit that they did not possess that extra- 

 ordinary strength of seat which I have observed only among 

 those who began to ride when they were boys. I attribute 

 this failure to obtain perfection, to the fact that a high degree 

 of proficiency in the art of balancing the body can be acquired 

 only when a commencement has been made in early youth. 

 Riding is so essentially an affair of nerve and balance, that 

 it is hopeless to become a brilliant performer in the saddle, 

 unless one begins to learn before one knows what fear is, 

 and before one's joints have lost their pliability. Practice, 

 however, can do a great deal, even to putting a man's heart 

 in the right place ; for the more familiarised we become with 

 any form of danger, the less do we fear it. 



Boys who have the opportunity, usually commence their 

 first lessons in equitation on a donkey or small pony, and by 

 dint of many falls and a little advice, get " shaken into their 

 saddles." I remember when I was a boy of eight or nine, my 

 father's coachman, whom I regarded as the highest authority 

 on riding in the world, repeatedly telling me that I would 

 never be able to ride until I had seventy-seven falls. I 

 unfortunately lost count when I got into the twenties, so 



