On Teaching Riding 15 



Irish dealer at the Dubhn Horse Show once told me 

 that he had a wonderful horse to sell me ; the remark 

 caused no surprise, but I had the curiosity to ask 

 why the animal was wonderful. " Your honor," 

 was the reply, " he can walk, trot, and gallop, and 

 there are very few horses in the show that can 

 do that." If we take the brains and time that are 

 put into horse-training abroad as a guide, it is really 

 surprising that so many horses at home should be 

 able to walk, trot, and gallop in proper form. 

 Many so-called trained animals which are sold out of 

 England or Ireland to go abroad are treated as un- 

 broken on their arrival unless over six years old, and 

 are trained from the beginning. 



As far as the teaching of riding is concerned, our 

 boys are generally taught by the family coachman, 

 often a poor horseman and with no theoretical 

 knowledge; a typical case of the blind leading the 

 blind. 



I recently visited the French Cavalry School at 

 Saumur, amongst others, which is the largest estab- 

 lishment of its kind in the world, not excepting Han- 

 over, and witnessed a performance given in the 

 riding school by the Ecuyers (picked riding instruc- 



