146 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



leaps, which he must do to get clear of strong 

 blackthorn or other thick hedges, will soon have the 

 "puff taken out of him. In short, he is always 

 in difficulties from violent exertions ; whilst the 

 heavy weights work their way through all oppo- 

 sition with comparative ease. Light weights are 

 also more inclined to take liberties with their horses 

 than men of more robust frame, who know they 

 must husband their resources as much as possible. 

 We have had both heavy and light men as whippers- 

 in, and always found the former could beat the latter 

 on the same horses over an enclosed country. By 

 heavy weights, we do not mean a lump of so much 

 human flesh, but a muscular frame, stripped of all 

 superfluities, without an ounce of flesh to spare — 

 that is, a powerful man in the saddle — elastic, wiry, 

 and agile, one who can assist the animal he is be- 

 striding in difficulties, and hold him together when 

 requisite. 



More than once or twice we have heard the idea 

 ridiculed, that the rider can assist or lift his horse, 

 and it is true that we have very often seen the 

 horse exercising supreme superiority over his master, 

 carrying him where he likes, and doing just as it 

 pleases him ; but in these cases the rider has been 

 over-matched, without sufficient muscular power to 

 regulate his horse's action ; a little man mounted 

 on a fifteen-stone hunter always reminding one of 

 a tomtit on a leg of beef. 



Having alluded to the physical, we must now 

 treat of mental power and other qualifications neces- 

 sary to constitute a perfect master of the science. 



