2 HOESEMANSHIP. 



racj. The great difficulty is to ride like tlie true 

 sportsman, and avoid every extraneous characteristic. 

 The perfect horseman can appropriate to himself every 

 style of seat with equal grace, ease, and truth ; there- 

 fore when he takes the field he will be equally cm fait 

 in the rushes of the chase, as in the finished canter of 

 the park, or in the formal scenes of the parade. It 

 follows as a consequence that a person must learn 

 all the minutife of riding before he can attain to this 

 state of perfection. He cannot possess it by intuition, 

 neither can he become thoroughly skilled by being per- 

 fect in one branch alone. If he be finished in the 

 manege, he requires to be well-seasoned in the field ; and 

 if he be at the top of the hunt, he still stands in need of 

 the lessons of the school to arrive at the ne plus ultra of 

 horsemanship. 



As a nation, we totally fail in one essential particular, 

 and that is, to regard the lioi'se as our most intimate 

 friend. On the contrary, our habit is to treat him as 

 our most willing slave. If we sought his company 

 with true Arab zest — if we caressed and fondled him 

 with the affection he deserves, — he would be spared 

 many inflictions, and we should escape thousands of 

 accidents and multitudes of mishaps. 



