6 UNASKED ADVICE. 



horse, to make into a lady^s hack — her hunter is another 

 affair altogether. Having bought him, the question of 

 training him follows. 



Having got your horse — whose height, for a hack, 

 should not much exceed 15-1, and for a hunter 15-24 — 

 the making him handy and pleasant will not be very 

 difficult, supposing his temper to be perfectly good. A 

 horse much over the height mentioned will require more 

 holding together than is pleasant for a lady. If a military 

 riding-school be within reach, I know of no better plan 

 than to send the horse there for a fortnight or so, men- 

 tioning that he is to canter to the right, and that he need 

 not be troubled with an overdose of the " bending 

 lesson.^' He will there be accustomed to firing, musics 

 &c., which is rather a difficult matter to manage in 

 private life ; but as the advantage of a school in one's 

 neighbourhood is the fortunate exception, not the rule, 

 people who don't enjoy it must do the best they can 

 without. We want the horse rather more set on his 

 haunches than anything short of a trooper usually is, and 

 the best way of arriving at this desirable result is to work 

 the horse on a circle, as in a school ; in fact, to improvise 

 a manege. 



Mark out for yourself a space of ground some forty- 

 five yards long by twenty ; if it can be done in the corner 

 of a field all the better, as then you have a wall to two 

 sides. A large stone will be enough to mark each 

 corner. The length of a cavalry manege is sixty yards j 

 but, for one horse, you will have lots of room in forty- 

 five. Begin by riding round your manege to the right, 

 at a walk, keeping the marking stones on your right 

 hand : going outside them, in short. After a few times 

 round the horse will understand that he is to keep in the 



