SCENES FROM THE SADDLE. 



the other to carry itself compactly and in balanced form and to 

 respond immediately to control, may be no less exacting to the 

 temper. The man who essays to teach horses control of mind 

 and body must have a fair allowance of these qualities himself 

 and secure a firm but kindly control. 



A horse, whatever his breeding may be, if he has not an 

 alert brain, or if alert is carried away by excitement, will never 

 make a safe mount. In a hunting country of small farms, 

 which in itself implies small fields, the fences are numerous 

 and have many varieties of form. They generally are asso- 

 ciated with a ditch so overgrown with dead grass as to be 

 barely distinguishable ; these are troubles which a horse with 

 brains quickly learns to surmount, but which remain a constant 

 source of risk to the slower-witted hunter. The quality next 

 in importance in a good hunter to intelligence is perhaps 

 good manners, but these are of little value without courage, 

 a light heart, and a good constitution ; these, combined with 

 a blessed immunity from lameness, will bring his rider safely 

 home in the evening without being appreciably tired by the 

 fifty miles he may have covered. 



The Foal. 



Ye of free and happy grace 



Frisking round your mothers. 

 Ye of long-descended pace, 

 Racing with your brothers 

 In the pasture fringed with trees. 

 Born to life of high emprise. 

 Knights in making, skill your goal 

 Dedicated knights as foal. 



The Two and Three- year-old. 



Yet untroubled by the rein. 



Saddle, bit, or stable. 

 Bite and kick in playful vein, 



Child of myth and fable. 

 11 



