128 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



merits of his body, he could fall without hurting him- 

 self, and he seemed very indignant when one of his 

 guests remarked: "That's all very well in theory; 

 but the first time you try that in the hunting field 

 you'll break your blooming neck." The very next 

 day, Mr. Cary was out with the Geneseo Fox Hounds 

 and had a fall in which he broke his collar-bone, much 

 to his disgust and the amusement of his dinner guests. 



The first fall often proves to the novice that falling 

 isn't so very bad, after all, and increases the courage, 

 but a bad fall is very often apt to break the nerve, 

 particularly if one does not remount at once, or makes 

 too much of the mishap. Nothing sadder can befall 

 horse or rider than the loss of confidence, for "he who 

 has lost confidence can lose nothing more." 



Nerve is, however, a thing quite utterly beyond the 

 control of any one, and has far more to do with the 

 physique and the prosaic matter of a good digestion 

 than with any trait of character. The best way to 

 preserve the nerve is to keep in good health, to eat 

 and drink moderately, and to avoid late hours and 

 smoking. The English rough rider, "Cap" Tomline, 

 was right when he said to a party of men: "The reason 

 you gentlemen have such bad nerves is because you 

 smoke so much. It turns your brains into a kind of 

 vapour." 



There are many people who seem to possess unlim- 

 ited courage when they have spectators whose pres- 

 ence buoys them up, but they would funk a fence in 

 a lonely field. For that matter, I wonder how many 

 of us could pass La Rochefoucauld's test of courage 

 when he says: "True bravery is shown by performing 

 without witnesses what one might be capable of doing 

 before all the world." 



