viii THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



benefit in catching railway connexions and in 

 saving time^ but I can say that I never once 

 thought of riding in one for pleasure, and that 

 what I know of the country I know from riding 

 along by-lanes and bridle roads, sometimes in 

 very out-of-the-way places, where even a bicycle 

 would be an encumbrance, but where a horse 

 was necessary to complete the picture. 



It has come to be an opinion, in these days of 

 hasty generalisation, that hunting is all well 

 enough for a young man, and of course if a man 

 hunts he gets fun out of his horses, but if he 

 does not hunt horses are no good to him. Nothing 

 can be farther from the fact, as I shall hope to 

 show in the following pages. 



The horse appeals to man in a way which no 

 other animal does — not even the dog, for with 

 the dog it is a matter of personal affection. With 

 the horse it is admiration for his capacity and 

 for his courage and docility. For though many 

 men may have a strong affection for their horses 

 I am pretty certain, from a long experience 

 amongst horses, that the affection is not mutual, 

 and that a horse is not capable of affection in 

 the same way as a dog is. 



There is something of self-esteem too in a 

 man's liking for a horse. He thinks the better 

 of himself for being capable of using so mxuch 

 strength and speed for his own purposes ; and. 



