iq: 



lUDING, J)RniNG AND KINDRED SPORTS 



uniform. At regimental meetings, point-to- 

 point races, and hunt meetings he can find 

 events in which to enter his horse. 



Race riding is like playing the fiddle, in that 

 every one thinks he can do it if he tries, though, 

 as a matter of fact, it is a fine art which cannot 

 be attained without practice and pains, and 

 then only a few men will really be first-rate. 

 There are many races of value and importance 

 in this country, and the rewards of successful 

 jockeyship never were so great, yet the really 

 fine horsemen now riding can be counted on 

 the fingers of one hand, and the other would 

 suffice for the average performers. Natural 

 aptitude, considerable intelligence, combined 

 with an infinite capacity for taking pains are 

 necessary, and after all the jockey may be only 

 a very moderate judge of pace. But though 

 the standard of the best jockeyship is high, 

 the amateur may console himself with the 

 thought that most other men are in the same 

 case^ as himself, while he, loving the sport 

 greatly, may be willing to give to it all the 

 time and trouble he can spare, and thus to 

 attain a fair amount of proficiency for a gende- 

 man rider. A certain relative of mine, a very 

 smart ofiicer, and afterwards adjutant of his 

 regiment, in his early days overheard two 

 sergeant-instructors discussing his own merits. 



