PREFACE 



) 



FOR seventy-six years, as cavalier, as student, as 

 instructor, I have ridden, under every sort of con- 

 ditions, horses of every type, every conformation, 

 and every breeding. 



My first experiment, at the age of five, was with 

 a donkey, young and entirely unbroken. At the be- 

 ginning, I was more often on the ground than on 

 the donkey's back; but after six months of perse- 

 verance, all its gambols failed to unseat me. At 

 eight years, I had a pony, thirteen and a half hands 

 high; and I received instruction from the Comte 

 d'Aure, Esquire-in-Chief of the cavalry school. 

 This Grand Master was always repeating, "Seat. 

 Seat. It is the sine qua non. Be a cavalier first. 

 Afterwards it will be possible, with study, to be- 

 come an esquire. " 



From eight to seventeen, I practiced the pre- 

 cepts of Comte d'Aure in various riding-schools. 

 At seventeen, I entered the French cavalry. I was 

 at the battle of Solferino in 1859. In 1860, I was 

 fighting in Syria; and in 1861, in Morocco. From 

 1862 to 1867, I was with Maximilian in Mexico. 

 The next year saw me in Algeria and the Sahara 

 Desert, fighting the Kabyles and Bedouins. In 

 1870 came the Franco-German War; and I fought 

 the Prussian Uhlans. 



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