158 HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP 



Once the horse is docile his education is com- 

 plete. No thought of bridling and bending and 

 balancing comes into consideration. The real 

 pleasures of riding and horsemanship are unknown. 

 Long distances have to be ridden, and all that is 

 necessary is that the horse should have some 

 form of " tripple " or easy canter, which will get 

 him over the ground in the easiest possible way 

 both for himself and the rider. 



The horse in those countries is a conveyance 

 pure and simple, and consequently it is not to 

 those people that we can turn, even living in the 

 saddle as they do, for any guidance in the higher 

 flights of horsemanship. 



On the other hand, even the most highly trained 

 horseman brought up in European methods 

 would not be able to sit a good buck-jumper for 

 long, in an ordinary hunting saddle. This is not 

 because the principles of riding which we study 

 are in any way wrong. The principles of balance 

 and seat remain the same always. But in this 

 case it is a question of strength as well as of 

 constant adjustment of balance. If the horse by 

 some sudden movement threw the rider off his 

 balance, only momentarily, no effort of strength 

 would enable him to regain his seat. Each fresh 

 movement would increase his difficulty, and it 

 would be only a question of seconds before he 

 would be deposited on the ground. If great 

 strength were not also used, the balance could 

 not be maintained. So that as even a young 

 grass-fed horse is considerably stronger than a 



