2 HORSES AND RIDING. 



that will impart to him any practical information on 

 the subject, which is of use to him ; while, if he 

 abandons the idea of learning from books and tries to 

 get any of his acquaintance to teach him, he will 

 find that although plenty of men can ride well them- 

 selves they have not the faculty of imparting to any- 

 one else the knowledge they possess, and that many 

 things they can do without any apparent effort and 

 with the greatest ease are perfectly impracticable to 

 a novice. 



Most children and probably many grown-up 

 people receive their first lessons from grooms, and as 

 a rule grooms have not the same practice in riding 

 as their employers. 



A very common piece of advice to a beginner, 

 before trying to leap, is an injunction to ' sit tight, 

 and keep hold of his head,' which is about on a par 

 with the advice generally given to beginners with a 

 gun, viz. to ^ aim straight.' 



Both these instructions are equally useless, and if 

 acted upon would almost invariably lead to failure. 

 For if you aimed straight at say a partridge flying 

 across you, you would probably kill one that was 

 flying a yard behind the one yon aimed at ; and if 

 you rode over a fence without altering your position 

 and without leaving go of the horse's bridle to a 

 certain extent, he would most likely pull you over 

 his head by extending his neck on landing. T shall 

 endeavour in the following work to give my readers 



