124 Horse and Man. 



CONCLUSION. 



THE lessons which I have now prescribed 

 will in my opinion suffice, if carefully prac- 

 tised, to make in a few months a perfect 

 horseman upon a perfect horse. But this 

 high-sounding phrase must not be misunder- 

 stood. By a perfect horseman or horse I 

 only mean a horseman or horse who has 

 learned to use his natural faculties to the best 

 possible advantage for the purpose of riding 

 or being ridden ; and I need scarcely point 

 out that the natural faculties of many horse- 

 men and horses are of a very humble order, 

 .or that a given style of riding or being ridden 

 may be relatively speaking perfect, and yet 

 absolutely speaking by no means conspicu- 

 ously brilliant. 



Brilliant riding is common enough in Eng- 

 land : perfect riding is extremely rare. We 

 have plenty of men and horses who can per- 

 form particular feats with a courage and 

 dexterity such as the whole world might 



