i88 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



school experiences he will in all probability be a 

 better horseman than the ordinary man who has 

 come to what he is by ' rule of thumb.' But it 

 will depend in a great measure on himself whether 

 he remains so. 



It is a truism that nothing requires so much 

 careful study as the Art of Riding. There is 

 something to learn every day, and it would 

 scarcely be too much to say that on the day when 

 a man is not learning something he is forgetting 

 something. When a man gets careless about 

 riding carelessness becomes a habit. 



To see how careless men are as a rule, watch a 

 field of horsemen trotting along the road from 

 one covert to another and count how many are 

 riding their horses into their bridles, or in other 

 words have them properly balanced. Not more 

 than six or seven per cent, perhaps at the outside. 

 Then if a holloa is heard or hounds pick up a line 

 suddenly there are all kinds of confusion and before 

 the bulk of the field have got out of that road 

 there will be a select few a couple of fields on with 

 hounds, and they will be the men who had their 

 horses properly balanced and ready for any 

 emergency. If a man would be a horseman he 

 must give his mind to it thoroughly, and a few of 

 those things which require special attention will 

 next be considered. 



