RIDING AND DRIVING 237 



men riders in America, was brought up with the 

 English notion that to ride straight and fast and 

 be in at the finish was both the beginning and the 

 end of horsemanship, while I looked upon any- 

 thing else as not only superfluous but rather un- 

 manly. In this country at that time, and to a very 

 great extent now, we looked upon all the Conti- 

 nental people of Europe as most unsportsmanlike 

 and mere dandy frivolers in horsemanship. This 

 is the case in England to-day, universally the 

 case. There the hunting field and the polo 

 grounds are the only places where horsemanship 

 is put to the test. In those fields the riding of Eng- 

 lishmen and Irishmen is superb. No other people 

 can compete with them. That is natural enough, 

 however, as they do more in the way of hunting 

 and polo than any others and pay more atten- 

 tion to the breeding of horses suitable to these 

 kinds of work. But the prejudice against the Con- 

 tinentals in horsemanship is as insular as many 

 other opinions that are cherished there. It is also 

 entirely undeserved. Among the French, the Ger- 

 mans, the Austrians and Italians are splendid 

 riders, men who can go anywhere an Englishman 



