HORSEMANSHIP i8i 



jumper inspires confidence in a way which no 

 other horse will do. What is called a sharp 

 horse may, and probably will ' upset ' a tyro 

 more or less and teach him to catch hold of his 

 bridle and many other undesirable tricks. With 

 the slug he has plenty of time to remember what he 

 ought to do, and by the time he has earned his 

 promotion he will do by instinct those things 

 which he at first has to think about. In a word 

 he will be on the high road to being a horseman. 



It must not be understood that there were no 

 criticisms or admonitions for our very serious 

 blunders. '' Why did you do ? " or '' You should 

 have done " were constantly dinned into our 

 ears. I remember very well the first ' gallop ' 

 I rode on a well-bred mare with a light mouth. I 

 enjoyed myself immensely ; she was the fastest 

 horse I had ever been on, and pace appealed to 

 me, even as a young lad. But, hke everyone else, 

 I had my skeleton. It was in the person of the 

 groom who was riding alongside me and who 

 kept shouting out '' You'll tumble off, as sure as 

 sure, if you ride like that.'' I felt all right and 

 did not know till long after what I was doing 

 wrong. The groom was a good horseman, but he 

 could impart nothing. 



A story told by the famous Duke of New- 

 castle is worth repeating in this connexion. 

 '' Mr. Germain," says the Duke, '' a Fine Gentle- 

 man, and|the Best Scholler Du Plessis had in all 

 his Academy, Knew well the Difficulty of Riding 

 a Ready Horse : For, to Perswade him to Ride 



