ally one rides because one likes to do so. It is just pure, 

 unadulterated, boyish fun. A man or a woman enjoys 

 a horseback ride in exactly the same spirit as a kid enjoys 

 a game of marbles. We do it for the fun of the thing, 

 and subconsciously realize that in having our fun, we are 

 also gaining distinct bodily benefits. And by one of the 

 curious quirks of our physiological endowment we always 

 benefit most from those benefits which are indirect, and 

 unobtrusive, in their operation. Thus the horseback ride 

 is first of all the thing we enjoy, and co-incidently the 

 thing from which we benefit. This is one of its greatest 

 virtues. 



So then we have first of all, in favor of this form of 

 beneficial enjoyment, its convenience. In the next place, 

 it possesses the advantages of an endless variety and horse- 

 back riding is literally like Egypt's famous queen, of 

 whom it was said, "age cannot wither, nor customs stale 

 her infinite variety." We can ride in a different direction, 

 into different scenes, into all sorts of conditions and local- 

 ities, and enjoy all the infinite aspects of nature in all of 

 her varying moods. All seasons of the year may be alike. 

 One may make choice of either day or night, and to the 

 equestrian, neither snow nor rain need be a necessary 

 deterrent from the indulgence in one's favorite pastime. 

 We have seen scores of Chicago equestrians cantering 

 through the park when the ground was covered with a 

 foot of snow; just as we have seen them returning when 

 they came to the end of a perfect day, in the balmy air of 

 a summer evening's twilight. Thus it is seen that to con- 

 venience is added to the pleasure of horseback riding, 

 that of variety. 



Again, and this is one of its most important aspects, 

 horseback riding is a social form of sport. It has the 

 incalculable attractions of companionship, and also invari- 

 ably of congenial companionship. Usually one's horse 

 is one's companion. A dearly loved and justly appreci- 



15 



