SCHOOL RIDING 269 



thought differently about school riding. Years 

 before that I knew intimately that fine school 

 rider the late James Newsome, whose circus 

 delighted the public in the country for many 

 years. Mr. Newsome had always held forth 

 to the same effect and he, with his nephew, 

 Charles Ducrow and his two charming daughters 

 w^ere as good in the Hunting field as they were 

 in the arena. I have had many a day's hunting 

 with Newsome and Ducrow and they were awk- 

 ward men to tackle or would have been if they 

 had known as much about hunting as they did 

 about horsemanship. But in our obstinacy we 

 would have it that Newsome and Ducrow went 

 well to hounds and the latter rode well in steeple- 

 chases in spite and not because of their school 

 experiences. Our prejudices were all against the 

 Riding School, and probably our prejudices were 

 strengthened by our appreciation of Surtees' 

 sarcastic references to the '' most magnificent and 

 affable of Riding masters, who advertises his stud, 

 just as Howes and Cushing advertise their grand 

 United States Circus." 



It is impossible to give a full description of the 

 Haut Ecole in a chapter or two ; the subject 

 is a big one and demands a volume to itself. 

 It also requires an expert such as Mr. Robert 

 Weir, Mr. E. L. Anderson, Count Cesaresco or 

 Mr. John Swire to do justice to it. Fortunately 

 all that is necessary here is to refer to that part 

 of School training which assists the horseman 

 in the management of his horse under ordinary 



