244 



CHAPTER XIV. 



NERVE. 



No lady can enjoy riding, or become proficient in 

 that art, unless she has good nerve. Luckily, the large 

 majority of girls who learn to ride possess abundance 

 of nerve and pluck, an excess of which is often a danger 

 to safety in the hunting field. It may be noticed, 

 however, that the finest horsewomen do not make any 

 showy display of their prowess, for they ride to hunt, 

 and do not hunt to ride. Pluck is an admirable quality 

 as far as it goes, but it must be supported by nerve. 



It is the custom to laugh at people who are suffering 

 from temporary loss of nerve, but it is heartless to do 

 so, as we have all, I believe, felt, more or less, what 

 Jorrocks would term, " kivered all over with the creeps," 

 at some period or other of our lives. Bad horses and bad 

 falls are apt to ruin the strongest nerve, and there must 

 be a cause to produce an effect. For instance, I never 

 feared a thunderstorm until our house was struck by 

 lightning ; but now, when a storm comes, I feel like the 

 Colonel to whom a Major said on the field of Preston- 

 pans : "You shiver, Colonel, you are afraid." " I am 



