Steeplechase Riding 2 1 5 



any effort, nay, witliout any volition of his 

 own, he sailed gaily through the blue em- 

 pyrean, absolutely clearing the ditch and 

 merely brushing the fence beyond, as he 

 alighted on terra firma once again ! Noth- 

 ing, apparently, could have exceeded his own 

 astonishment at finding himself where he was 1 

 And now for one of the most important 

 parts of the steeplechase rider's equipment, 



nerve. 



Before we reached the mature age of 

 twenty, of course we all scoffingly answered 

 the question of what was want of nerve, m 

 the one word " Funk." 



But it is not funk, nevertheless. When 

 we are very young at such pursuits as steeple- 

 chase riding, we are, for the most part, so 

 gloriously ignorant of the danger, that we 

 rather rejoice at a roll over than otherwise. 

 Later on, when we become alive to the fact 

 that we are engaged in a somewhat risky 

 pastime, the consciousness of it may momen- 

 tarily unsteady us, and this we call ner- 

 vousness. One of the boldest and best of 



