THE HUXTIXG SEAT. 245 



the part (just behind the shoulders) which ought 

 to form the junction between the rider and his 

 horse, w^e can readily imagine how distressing it 

 must be to the latter, and how much a large fence, 

 so taken, must exhaust him over and above what 

 would be the case if he had had the assistance of a 

 firm hand to support him on alighting ; but which, 

 with such a seat as we have been describing, no 

 man can possess. The first requisite, then, for a 

 person who follows hounds is the combination of a 

 light hand with a firm seat ; and fortunate is it for 

 his horse, as well as for himself, if he possess it to 

 the degree required to constitute a fine horseman, 

 over a country. 



But as the science of war cannot be learned per- 

 fectly by any thing short of experience in the field, 

 neither can the art of horsemanship, as far as the 

 sportsman is concerned, be learned perfectly in the 

 riding-school or the academy. If our own obser- 

 vation did not confirm this fact, it would appear 

 evident, from the variety of situations in which the 

 man following hounds may be placed, in one indivi- 

 dual run ; and we will endeavour to enumerate 

 them. First, there is galloping at very nearly full 

 speed, not over turf as smooth as a carpeted floor, 

 and with nothing beyond a daisy's head to come in 

 contact with the horse's feet, but (ciirsu undoso) 

 over every description and every variety of ground ; 

 over the high ridge and across the deep furrow ; 

 over ground studded with ant-hills, which, unlike 

 the mole-hill, are often as hard as if they had been 

 baked in an oven ; over stones and flints, the latter 



