42 Military Leaping. 



feet development of the hunter and the racer they 

 neglect the training of the hack. Though it be 

 heresy to the mania of the day to say so, it is 

 none the less true that while you seek your bold 

 as well as discreet and experienced cross-country 

 rider in England, you must go to the Continent, 

 or among the British cavalry, to find your ac- 

 complished horseman. 



It is the general impression among men who 

 ride to hounds, and still more among men who 

 pretend to do so, that leaping is the tiltima thule 

 of equestrianism ; and that a man who can sit a 

 horse over a four foot hurdle has graduated in 

 the art of horsemanship. The corollary to this 

 error is also an article of faith among men who 

 hunt, that is, that no other class of riders can 

 leap their horses boldly and well. But both ideas 

 are as strange as they are mistaken. 



The cavalry of Prussia, Austria, and Italy 

 show the finest of horsemanship. More than a 

 quarter century ago, the author spent three years 

 in Berlin under the tuition of a retired major-gen- 

 eral of the Prussian army, and saw a great deal 

 of the daily inside life, as well as the exceptional 

 parade life, of the army. He has often seen a 

 column of cavalry, with sabres drawn, ride across 

 water which would bring half the Myopia Hunt 

 to a stand-still on an ordinary run after hounds. 

 Why should not men whose business it is to ride, 

 do so well } 



