138 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



ment he finds himself going, fear takes such a hold upon 

 him that he is in a state of catalepsy, and goes through the 

 air and lands in a heap like a dead man. Even the law of 

 self-preservation is gone. Contact with the earth, how- 

 ever, brings him to himself. Some one catches his horse, 

 and he gets up again, none the worse for wear. From that 

 moment he is an altered man. So far from a course of falls 

 making him more timid than ever, he has gained — sup- 

 posing he is not altogether unacquainted with riding — a 

 great increase of courage when they are done. He rides 

 more easily, more gracefully. His coat, for a few times, 

 may look of the earth earthy, his breeches of the grass 

 grassy, but the dread and horror of being thrown are left 

 behind. 



The learner's tuition by means of a series of falls follows 

 a more or less regular course. After the first few tumbles 

 he realises, with varying degrees of surprise or hardihood, 

 that going to grass may be done in divers ways. When, 

 for instance, having recovered from his first state of blank- 

 ness, he goes again at his fences, he discovers that his horse 

 has picked up the fear his rider left behind, and, thinking 

 another fall is due, refuses to jump. Thereupon out of the 

 saddle goes Novice once more ; he was not expecting to fall 

 on the take-off side of the fence. " Good ! " comments 

 the experienced spectator, inwardly. " Nothing better could 

 have happened him." 



Again the horse is caught, and Novice mounts another 

 time, with courage still rising. The horse, however, has 

 been losing confidence, and feels that his insecurely seated 

 rider is likely to give him another painful jab in the mouth 



