CHAPTER VI. 



IN THE FIELD. 



Style of Riding required for Hunting and Steeplechasing Dif- 

 ferent from that Adopted in Ordinary Road Riding — The 

 Seat — The Hands — Delicate Handling to be Aimed at — 

 "Bitting'' — Courage and Coolness — The " Hard Funl-er" — 

 Whyte Melville on Indecision — Speed v. Perseverance — 

 Training Horses to Jvmp — Sir Charles Knightlet/s Patience 

 and Kindnesr-^ Practice with Hounds — Falls — Throwing 

 up the Rigid Hand ivhen Leaping — An Expedient for 

 " Mahng a TimbKr Jumper " — Feeding and Treatment of 

 Horses Ridden to Hounds — The Girths. 



foT takes no wizard to tell us that a very different style of 

 ^ horsemanship is required for such sports as hunting and 

 — .' steeplechasing to that adopted in ordinary road riding. 

 Many a man, who passes amongst his female acquaintance 

 for a " very good rider," would find himself painfully " out 

 of it " in what Mr. Bromley Davenport stirringly calls " a 

 quick thirty minutes from Eanksborough Gorse," or even 

 half that time, with the mildest of suburban packs. First 

 and foremost, an entirely different seat is required for 

 crossing a country safely and well to that which amply 

 suffices for ordinary hacking purposes. Next, the hands 

 should be of a far superior order ; and last, but not by 

 any means least, courage and coolness are not commonly 

 called into play on the road, but they must never be absent 

 in the field. As to the first of these essentials, the seat, 

 settle you' self comfortably in the saddle ; never mind what 

 you look like. Some men think it necessary to sit bolt 

 upright on their horses, with a hollow in their backs, and, by 



