8 Preface 



Few men can have had the exceptional oppor- 

 tunities I enjoyed of putting every know^n method, 

 EngHsh and foreign, of teaching riding and training 

 horses to a practical test ; there w^ere rarely less than 

 two hundred budding horsemen under instruction 

 at a time, who were replaced as they became efficient, 

 and at least sixty young horses passed through the 

 Establishment yearly. 



Since leaving Woolwich I have visited all the 

 principal Cavalry Schools of Germany, Austria- 

 Hungary, Italy, France, and Belgium, and have 

 seen many fine riders and well trained horses. 



There are so very many books on equitation that 

 it has of course been necessary to cover old ground, 

 but I believe that some features of the science — for 

 science it is — have been treated in a new way. No 

 book, as far as I am aware, recommends the system 

 of teaching riding advocated in these pages, which I, 

 and others who have tried it, have proved to ensure 

 quickness and safety, with the minimum of discom- 

 fort to both horse and rider during the process. 



In Part II, devoted to horse-training, I have en- 

 deavored to impress on the reader the value of 



