PRECOCITY IN THE SADDLE 125 



only thirteen when he left home to begin life as whipper- 

 in to Mr Johnson's harriers in Lincolnshire. 



On the other hand, some great horsemen have given no 

 promise of future prowess in the saddle in their boyhood. 

 The present Earl Spencer, "one of England's hardest 

 riders," was a timid and nervous child, who dreaded 

 mounting his pony, even with the hand of his governess to 

 cling to, and developed no taste for hunting till he was at 

 Cambridge. 



