SCHOOL RIDING 267 



* make ' a horse well to carry a man either on the 

 road, in the Park or in the Hunting field, who 

 have no knowledge of School Riding whatever ; 

 yet it will probably be found that they have 

 somehow hit on a similar method of training and 

 have got at the same results by a more round- 

 about way. 



It is a curious fact that in England, where 

 School riding for many years — indeed it may be 

 almost said for centuries — was not only admired 

 and appreciated but was a source of national 

 pride, it should be suddenly dropped and not 

 only dropped but thought of no account and 

 finally laughed at and despised. But such is the 

 case, and it has only been in the last few years 

 when many fine horsemen have taken the 

 subject up and many good books have been 

 written on it that the Haut Ecole has been 

 thought to have o^e good property in England. 

 ''Circus Business" say Brown, Jones and 

 Robinson, bumping about on their saddles, and 

 hanging on by the bridle. But it is only Circus 

 work to this extent, that a horse once thoroughly 

 broken to ' school ' methods, can by means of 

 the various 'aids' be taught to do almost 

 anything. So marvellous indeed were some of 

 the tricks old Riding Masters taught their Horses 

 that Count Cesaresco, quoting Caracciolo and 

 Corte of Pavia, Italian writers of the sixteenth 

 century, reminds us that at Aries a Neapolitan 

 and his horse were burnt for practising Magic. 

 It can however be claimed by School riders 



