366 RIDING TO HOUNDS 



form of a ]uaii has a good deal to do with it ; for it is impossible that 

 any one with a round thigh and a large calf to his leg can have a 

 perfect seat on his horse, and without a good seat he cannot have a 

 good hand. 



The hand on a horse I take to proceed also from other causes. I 

 conceive it to be intimately connected with the nervous functions of 

 the digestive organs — and here again is the necessity for temperance 

 and regular living in those who wish to excel in the field more 

 particularly enforced. 



The advantages of a line hand on a horse are, no doubt, of the 

 very highest importance in riding a race, but not more so than in 

 riding over a country ; and if a horse could speak, he would say, 

 " ride me with a fine hand and an easy bit." A horse's ear is said 

 to be in his mouth ; and it is from the bit that he receives the 

 wishes and instructions of his rider. 



The art of riding has been but little cultivated in this country, nor 

 do I think much benefit would be derived from it if it were. That 

 the menage was known in the time of Augustus is evident ; but that 

 any advantage could be gained by teaching a horse, by severe and 

 painful discipline, to dance a capriolo, or a cornetti, I never could 

 bring myself to imagine, unless the object w^ere to fit him for the 

 stage or the circus. As for the lessons of a riding-master, they may 

 be essential to a good military seat, or to teach an Englishman to 

 ride like a Frenchman ; but they never will teach a man how to 

 ride, and make the most of his horse over a country. With the 

 assistance of nature, he must teach himself ; but whether he is to be 

 an apt scholar must depend on a variety of circumstances. 



The many instances of falls which I have seen from the effect of 

 a bad hand are innumerable ; but as the head of a horse may also 

 be termed the rudder that steers him, if the helmsman is a bad one, 

 a capsize must often be the consequence. On the other hand, it is 

 not within the power of my pen to describe the benefit of a fine, but 

 firm and steady, hand on the hunter when going at a rapid pace 

 across a country. We all recollect some years ago, that the late 

 Sam Chifney talked and wrote about a new method of riding the 

 racer with a slack rein \ but this was theory, which, even with his 

 fine finger and his superior horsemanship, could not be put into 



