RIDING AND DRIVING 243 



them, even though they do not acquire the finish 

 and excellence that is to be expected of gentle- 

 men. But as critics of the riding of others they are 

 often unexcelled. Have some kind of a master, 

 unless he be an ignoramus, for a lad in the begin- 

 ning, and by no means let him go at the game by 

 the light of nature. Uninstructed he is sure to ac- 

 quire habits that it will be harder for him to over- 

 come than it would have been for him to be cor- 

 rect from the beginning. And he should be given 

 a reason for everything he is told to do. That it is 

 necessary to be reasonable in riding makes me 

 sometimes think that it would be just as well not 

 to put a boy on a horse until he was fifteen or six- 

 teen. The objection to this delay is that a lad will 

 be kept out of four or five years of fun in the very 

 playtime of his life. 



A beginner should use only a snaffle-bit with 

 one rein. The awkwardness of a beginner and his 

 disposition to help keep his seat with the aid of 

 the reins is frequently a severe hardship on a 

 horse and pretty sure to ruin a horse's mouth. 

 Besides both snaffle and curb are in the begin- 

 ning confusing, and too much of a handful for a 



