162 HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP 



loins, in all long-distance work. And as they do 

 not expect to meet anything in the nature of a 

 jump, it is certainly more comfortable to ride 

 fairly long, than to attempt the correct seat of 

 an English hunting man. The only obstacles they 

 are likely to meet might be a fallen tree, which 

 would never exceed two feet in height off the 

 ground. These they negotiate by merely leaning 

 forward, and allowing the horse to straggle over 

 it as best he may. It is not a finished exhibition, 

 but it is not intended to be. The rider often 

 loses his stirrup irons, or sometimes, even, de- 

 liberately takes his feet from them. The point 

 is that he " gets there," and that is all that is 

 required. The horse he is riding, too, is probably 

 an entirely imtrained youngster, and so all the 

 " finesse " which these articles have been advo- 

 cating are here quite out of place. 



I have headed this chapter " Colonial Riding," 

 by which I refer to the stockyards, and that par- 

 ticular form of riding and horse-breaking which 

 people on this side regard as typical overseas. 

 But in and near the large towns like Melbourne 

 or Sydney, where life is more civilized, there is 

 no reason why the riding and horsemanship should 

 not be on similar lines, and reach as high, if not 

 a higher, standard than that which at present 

 obtains in Europe. That they have not already 

 done so is probably due, firstly, to the cowboy 

 influence, and secondly, to the fact that there are 

 few men of leisure who are not too old to interest 

 themselves in such pursuits, and also, perhaps 



