74 RIDING, DRIVING AND KINDRED SPORTS 



hunter. I am now going to devote myself 

 chierty to considering the way to see most 

 sport at a moderate ouday. In doing this I 

 shall have, I know, some friendly and sympa- 

 thetic readers in far off Indian messes, with 

 whom I have often compared notes and dis- 

 cussed ways and means. I do not say that 

 even a moderate horseman may not have a 

 great deal of fun, but good horsemanship is 

 undoubtedly worth money. Now let me say 

 at once that I do not propose to have anything 

 to do with "coping." It spoils one's pleasures, 

 alienates one's friends, and is not really profit- 

 able in the end. 



Of course, there are fine and exceptional 

 horsemen who add to the value of any horse 

 they ride, but this book is not for them. 

 The ordinary man must be content to lose as 

 little by his horses as may be, and to be 

 thankful if by good luck he occasionally does 

 have a little windfall. I know some very 

 well-to-do men indeed, who buy and sell a 

 number of horses, and never, except by 

 accident, have a good one, because they try 

 to buy cheap horses and are always getting 

 hold of bad ones which they are not horse- 

 men enough even to make the best of. For 

 such people 1 have no sympathy. The course 

 which is really wise, when £ioo or so makes 



