2 RIDING, DRIVING AND KINDRED SPORTS 



own. Nevertheless, It is not for the experienced 

 and well taught that I write, but for those w^hose 

 early opportunities of learning, on matters con- 

 nected with the horse may have been small, and 

 for those, too, whose means being moderate 

 have to consider economy in the stable as well 

 as in the house. P or it is a common failing of 

 writers on sport, that, forgetting the real facts 

 of the case, they always write as though every 

 practical sportsman had at least ^2,000 a 

 year, and pour scorn on any suggestion of the 

 combination of sport w^ith economy. The con- 

 sequence of this is that people of small means 

 who would enjoy one or other of the sports 

 treated of in this book, are deterred from doino- 

 so, by the idea that these are reserved for the 

 wealthy. 



That money is an advantage to the hunting 

 or coaching man, no one will doubt, but 

 its possession in any large quantity is, and 

 always must be, the exception. Indeed, I am 

 sure that if we sent home from our hunting- 

 fields every man whose available income was 

 not more than ^500 a year, many fixtures 

 would be far less well attended than they are. 

 Belonging to that majority whose means are 

 much too narrow for their tastes, and who have 

 nevertheless managed to see and to enjoy much 

 good sport on the hunting field, on the polo 



