ON THE ROAD. 37 



or anything of tlae kind ; you must stop him at any risk, and 

 if you have nerve enough to put him into the obstacle straight, 

 and not obliquely, you will probably get off scot free. This 

 " straight," as against the slanting style of riding, reminds 

 me of something that I ought, perhaps, rather to mention 

 in the next chapter, entitled " In the Field." However, I will 

 just speak of it now : In going down a steep hillside, scrambling 

 down big banks. &c., always let your reins free and loose, and 

 ride straight, not in a sidling manner. Old Hills, the late 

 huntsman of the Surrey Foxhounds, would gallop with a slack 

 rein down the side of the huge hills which abound in his 

 district, even when crippled with the gout. I think that 

 coming down these places is merely a question of nerve. Trust 

 your horse ; let him get his head down as low as he likes, and 

 he will rarely ''give you away;" but I do not for an instant 

 advocate coming down at a gallop. 



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