12 Superficial Equitation. 



yields his very honest admiration, and whose 

 stanch hunters he is happy to follow across coun- 

 try, nor ashamed if he finds he has lost them from 

 sight. He regrets to say that he has also seen 

 not a few who affect to sneer at a padded saddle 

 or a horse with a long tail, who seem incapable 

 of throwing their heart across a thirty inch stone 

 wall in a burst after hounds, although upon the 

 road they seek to impress one as constantly rid- 

 ing to cover. 



It is unnecessary, however, to say that the au- 

 thor has too long been a lover of equestrianism 

 per se not to admire the good and be tolerant of 

 the bad for the total sum of gain which the horse- 

 back mania of to-day affords. He is old enough 

 to remember that human nature remains the 

 same, however fast the world may move, and is 

 firm in the belief that we shall soon grow to be a 

 nation of excellent horsemen. 



There is no pretense to make these pages a 

 new manual for horse-training or for riding. 

 There are plenty of good books on horseman- 

 ship now in print; but unfortunately there are 

 few riders who care for anything beyond a super- 

 ficial education of either their horses or them- 

 selves. More than rudimentary — if viewed in 

 the light of the High School — the hints in this 

 volume can scarcely be considered. If any in- 

 centive to the study of the real art and to the 



