TRAINING THE HUNTER 25 



his educational period, there is no doubt that a 

 great deal of what is undesirable in a horse's 

 manner is directly traceable to this cause. There 

 are two great errors which are frequently observ- 

 able in the riding of a young horse after he has 

 got that he will carry a saddle without taking 

 any very active means to get rid of the man who 

 is on the top of it. The first is generally com- 

 mitted by a self-sufficient groom, conceited of his 

 own powers as a horseman. The horse carries him 

 quietly, and has begun to answer to his bridle, so 

 the clever fellow thinks that he has nothing to do 

 but ride about " like a gentleman." And this he 

 does by letting the horse " put his head " wherever 

 he likes. The consequence is that the horse gets 

 lazy and careless as well as the man, and as bad 

 habits are easily acquired and hard to get rid of, the 

 horse gets into a slovenly way of going which 

 never quite leaves him, no matter how good his 

 subsequent training may be. The other fault is 

 equally disastrous in its effects, the country 

 bumpkin, promoted pro tern, to the dignity of horse- 

 breaker, being generally the greatest offender in 

 this way. He has got some sort of a strong seat, 

 i.e. by means of keeping fast hold of his horse's 

 head, and wrapping his legs round him, he can 

 manage to " remain." And he is never happy 

 unless he is, as he thinks, " witching the world 

 with noble horsemanship." He is constantly 

 irritating his horse to make him bounce about or 

 even kick, and whichever the poor unfortunate 

 brute does he is sure to get punished. His mouth 

 is sawed at, whip and spurs are used, and all 

 because he does what his rider really wanted him 

 to do. Small wonder then that there are so many 



