INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 6 



This is, however, precisely what brings into the saddle 

 a great number of people who do not belong to the class 

 of born riders, or have perhaps neither the time, oppor- 

 tunity, nor desire to do more than enjoy a pleasant ride 

 when they can, and who are therefore content to depend 

 on others, who are paid for doing it, to put this within 

 their reach. That this luxury is, however, not always 

 attainable, even to a long purse, many a man can testify; 

 and the causes of failure are frequently sufficiently 

 obvious to professional riders, although seldom pointed 

 out by them, for very cogent reasons. It must be con- 

 fessed, indeed, that it is most usually a very thankless 

 office to offer any man that rides anything like advice, 

 however well meant and sound, on anything concerning 

 his horse, bridle, saddle, or seat. The great majority 

 would much more patiently tolerate very decided ex- 

 pressions of doubt as to their mental or moral qualifica- 

 tions, if only conveyed with a certain amount of tact, 

 than the slightest imputation of want of knowledge or 

 skill in things pertaining to horsemanship. 



And yet there exist very incontestable evidences that 

 a great amount of unskilfulness, to use a mild term, in 

 the matter of riding does really exist amongst us. We 

 have the best horses in the world, and those whose 

 build and temper are most peculiarly adapted for riding 

 purposes ; notwithstanding which, the proportion of 

 animals with broken knees and other injuries to their 

 limbs is infinitely greater than anywhere else that we 

 know of. No doubt we demand a greater amount of 

 hard work from our horses than other people ; still 

 broken knees are the opprobrium of the rider, and point 

 very evidently to great ignorance or total disregard of 

 the very simple mechanical principles that govern the 



