276 HORSEMANSHIP. 



Falls. — There is a proverb, and a true one, 

 which says, " He that will venture nothing, must 

 not get on horseback." All men, however, who 

 ride a-hunting are subject to falls, but those who 

 ride near to hounds, or " hard," as the term is, 

 seldom escape without having several in the course 

 of a season. It is well, then, that the young 

 sportsman should know, that there is an art in 

 falling, as well as in preventing falls. This con- 

 sists in getting clear of the horse as soon as pos- 

 sible, which a man in the habit of falling has a 

 better chance to do than one who runs less risk of 

 it, having greater self-possession at the moment. 

 Next to a horse coming neck and croup over a high 

 timber fence, a fall in galloping at full speed is 

 most dangerous, and apt to dislocate the neck, by 

 the head cominsr first to the o:round ; and from the 

 velocity of the fall, the rider has no time for pre- 

 cautions. However, even in this case he should 

 endeavour to put out one hand, if not both, to 

 break the force of the fall, as well as to act in re- 

 sistance to his head coming first to the ground, and 

 receiving the whole force of the concussion. By so 

 doing, it is true, the collar-bone stands a great 

 chance of being fractured ; but that is an accident 

 merely of temporary inconvenience, and unattended 

 with danger, whereas a dislocated neck is very rarely 

 reduced. But it is a curious fact, that there are 

 fewer instances of broken necks in the field in the 

 present age, than there were nearly a century ago, 

 notwithstandino: that for one man who rode a-hunt- 

 ing then, there are fifty now; and the pace of 



