HORSEMANSHIP, 



good hands, and an insight into the various ways and tricks 

 of horses. It has been contended that this early tuition or 

 practice is needless, and, in some cases, positively harmful. 

 Needless, because some of the finest riders the world has 

 ever produced knew little or nothing of the art in their 

 nursery or even schoolroom days ; harmful, because at that 

 tender age, the back is weak and the spine liable to injury. 

 The cases of the Empress of Austria and her sister, the ex- 

 Queen of Naples, both magnificent horsewomen, are cited 

 by those who oppose the lessons of early age, for neither of 

 these skilled ladies rode much before attaining womanhood. 

 The Arabs have a saying that, " the lessons of infancy are 

 engraved upon stone, the lessons of ripe age pass away like 

 birds' nests ; " and despite the prowess of these royal dames 

 and others, male and female, whose names might also be 

 quoted as examples, I maintain that the schooling should 

 commence with the " ride-a-cock-horse-to-Banbury-cross," 

 first on the father's crossed leg, then on his shoulders, and 

 so, by degrees, in front of his saddle. By this means all 

 nen^ousness at being hoisted high in the air is overcome ; 

 the rough, bucking, bounding motion becomes a positive 

 delight, and the flaccid infantile muscles are taught to grip 

 and hold on. This is the time, and these are the means, 

 by which to eradicate the germs of nervousness and to 

 create nerve. We all know how passionately fond children 

 are of their ponies, and how they seem to cleave unto them 

 above all other pets or toys ; how they clamour each for 

 their turn for a ride. By degrees we promote the two and 

 three year olds to the backs of donkeys or preferably of 

 some very quiet, well-trained, grass, 7iot corii-fed, ponies, till 

 at about six years old we find them so grounded in the rudi- 

 ments that they may then be taken in hand and properly 

 instructed. My first task, therefore, will be to teach the 



