114 THE ART OF TAMING HORSES. 



be acquired late in life. I know instances in both sexes 

 of a fair firm seat having been acquired under the pres- 

 sure of necessity after forty years of age (I could name 

 lawyers, sculptors, architects, and sailors), but it may be 

 acquired with ease and perfection in youth, and it is most 

 important that no awkward habits should be acquired. 



Children who have courage may be taught to ride 

 almost as soon as they can walk. On the Pampas of 

 South America you may see a boy seven years old on 

 horseback, driving a herd of horses, and carrying a baby 

 in his arms ! 



I began my own lessons at four, when I sat upon an 

 old mare in the stall while the groom polished harness 

 or blacked his boots. Mr. Nathaniel Gould, who, at 

 upwards of seventy years, and sixteen stone weight, can 

 still ride hunting for seven or eight hours at a stretch, 

 mentions, in his observations on horses and hunting,* 

 that a nephew of his followed the Cheshire fox-hounds 

 at seven years of age. " His manner of gathering up his 

 reins was most singular, and his power of keeping his 

 seat, with his little legs stretched horizontally along the 

 saddle, quite surprising." The hero Havelock, writing 

 to his little boy, says, " You are now seven years old, 

 and ought to learn to ride. I hope to hear soon that 

 you have made progress in that important part of 

 your education. Your uncle William (a boy-hero in the 

 Peninsula) rode well before he was seven years old." 

 The proper commencement for a boy is a pony in which 

 he can interest himself, and on which he may learn to 

 sit as a horseman should. 



I particularly warn parents against those broad-backed 

 animals which, however suitable for carrying heavy old 

 gentlemen, or sacks to market, are certainly very un- 



*' " Hints on Horses and Hunting," by Senex. 



