CHAPTER III. 



THE USE OF THE BRIDLE. 



THE late Mr. Maxse, celebrated some fifty years ago 

 for a fineness of hand that enabled him to cross Leices- 

 tershire with fewer falls than any other sportsman of 

 fifteen stone who rode equally straight, used to profess 

 much comical impatience with the insensibility of 

 his servants to this useful quality. He was once seen 

 explaining what he meant to his coachman with a 

 silk-handkerchief passed round a post. 



"Pull at it!" said the master. "Does it pull at 

 you ? " 



" Yes, sir," answered the servant, grinning. 



" Slack it off then. Does it pull at you now ? " 



"No, sir." 



" Well then, you double-distilled fool, can't you see 

 that your horses are like that post ? If you don't pull 

 at them they won't pull at you I " 



