GENERAL MAXIMS. 279 



hunting field, as what is now termed " a first-flight 

 horseman!''' You may sing with Hector, 



■TJie foremost place 1 claim, 



The first in danger, as the first in fame ;" 



but you will not obtain it unless you possess the 

 above named requisites. But having them, do not 

 consider the following admonitions unworthy of 

 your notice : — Never ride at impenetrable or im- 

 practicable places ; you may get over or through 

 them with a fall, but your horse will surely be the 

 worse for the attempt, and will the sooner sink 

 under you in a good run. Never abandon your 

 horse to himself over any ground, but be sure to 

 hold him fast by his head, either up or down hill, 

 and in soft ground. If you doubt the effect of a 

 tight hand at these times, ask the first Newmarket 

 jockey you meet, and he will fully satisfy your 

 doubts. In the daring movements of that " laidess 

 moment^'''' which the first start after hounds, in 

 some countries, may now be termed, from the des- 

 perate attempts hard -riding men make to get the 

 lead, do not fail to have your eyes about you, and 

 also keep a good command over your horse. In 

 plain English, do not ride over any man. Some of 

 the worst accidents to sportsmen have arisen from 

 this cause. In the first place, one man will often 

 ride so close to another who is going to leap a fence, 

 that if the first horse falls, the second is almost certain 

 to leap either on or over him and his rider, as he can 

 rarely be pulled up, or even turned, in so short a 

 space. But even should the second man see the 

 first man's horse in the act of leaping the fence, he 



