CHAPTER IV. 



THE MILITARY SEAT. 



Is there such a thing as a standard military seat or not? 

 and is there any real necessity for it, and what ? There 

 can be no doubt that a cavalry in some respects tech- 

 nically inferior may achieve, and often has gained, 

 victories over another, not having any fault of the 

 kind. So very much depends on the way in which 

 this arm is handled, and on its moral qualities, that it is 

 quite impossible to say, " This cavalry, because it rides 

 very well, must, or even will most probably, beat that 

 other one, because it does not ride quite so well." Are 

 we then to conclude that the seat and everything con- 

 nected with it is a matter of minor importance 1 The 

 old Austrian cavalry regulations contained a paragraph 

 to this effect : " Cavalry that cannot ride (that is to 

 say, well) is a burden to the state ;" but we have been 

 often tempted to paraphrase this and say, " Cavalry 

 that can oiily ride is not less so." Both expressions 

 taken together will then mean, that it is not enough 

 for a cavahy man to be a bold rider; his riding must be 

 done so as to make him an efficient combatant as well : 

 for whatever doubt may exist on account of the almost 

 impossibility of estimating precisely " the other things 

 equal " of the question to be solved, as to whether a 



