RIDING OVER A COUNTRY 121 



the way, too frequently is adopted, by those who 

 commence to ride later in life. 



I am prepared to admit that there is a large 

 proportion of good horsemen in the country. 

 My long experience has caused me to form the 

 opinion that, whilst the brilliant horsemen of the 

 past have their equals in the present, and in in- 

 creased numbers, what for want of a better term I 

 may call the good average performers are very 

 much on the increase. But do we, as a nation, 

 ride as well as we ought to do ? I very much 

 question it. In fact, the falls in the hunting field 

 show, I think, conclusively that we have much to 

 learn, for it must be admitted that many of them 

 are preventable. 



Indeed, when we come to look at the inex- 

 perience of so large a proportion of those who 

 swell the hunting field, and the badly broken 

 horses that they ride, it is a wonder that serious 

 accidents are not more common than they are. 

 Upwards of sixty years ago a calculation was 

 made, the result of which is as follows : It is 1 o 

 to 1 against a man who goes out hunting having a 

 fall at all ; it is 80 to 1 against either himself or 

 his horse being hurt ; it is 480 to 1 against the 

 rider being hurt ; it is 15,760 to 1 against a broken 

 bone, and 115,200 to 1 against fatal accident. 

 A later calculation, which, however, I have not at 

 hand, gives the odds against a fatal accident as 

 480,000. 



But notwithstanding the comparatively small 

 number of accidents which take place, we are 

 constantly hearing of serious accidents in the 

 hunting field, and we may take it for granted 

 that many take place of which we do not hear. 



