236 Horsemanship. 



that a horse'*s ear has been figuratively said to lie 

 in his mouth, and no doubt he receives the instruc- 

 tion from his rider chiefly through that medium. 

 How material, then, is it that it should be con- 

 veyed to him in a manner in which he is not only 

 most likely to understand it, but in one the least 

 disposed to irritate him 1 How often have we seen 

 a horse fractious and unpleasant both to his rider 

 and himself, when ridden by an indiS'erent horse- 

 man, (allowing him even a good seat,) but going 

 placidly and pleasantly when mounted by another 

 with a low and fine hand, which appears to sympa- 

 thise with all his motions and all his wishes. It 

 is here that Art becomes the handmaid of Nature ; 

 and it is the assistance which it is in the power of 

 a jockey with a fine hand to give to a horse, which 

 alone exhibits the superiority of one horse over 

 another m himself eqyi^llj good. 



Whence this superiority of hand arises, it is 

 very difficult to determine, particularly as the want 

 of it is so frequently apparent in men possessing 

 equally good seats on their horses. From the 

 well-known fact that it is an accomplishment, 

 which in thousands and ten thousands of cases 

 never can be acquired by the practice and expe- 

 rience of a long life, we may almost consider it to 

 be, like the poets, an e:r re natd property in the 

 human composition, and thus sought for in vain by 

 those to whom nature has denied it. That it is 

 intimately connected with the nervous influence of 

 the touch is obvious, from its being the result of 

 the action of the hand and arm ; and it is in being 



