l6 Introductory Chapter. 



the rider's temperament, and which arrive at their 

 greatest perfection when coupled with an unselfish love 

 of that noblest and most beautiful animal, the horse. It 

 is only necessary to put a man of this sort into the 

 saddle and he becomes at once a rider ; just as another 

 becomes a good shot, and a third an expert angler, 

 almost from the moment a gun or a rod is placed in 

 their hands. 



But all men are not so gifted ; whole nations, indeed, 

 have been at various periods of the world's history 

 characterized as born riders ; but it will be found, on 

 examination, that in these instances unmixed race, re- 

 sulting in great uniformity of stature, build and tem- 

 perament, combined with what we are pleased to term 

 a low degree of civilization, prevailed to a much greater 

 extent than amongst ourselves. It would be invidious, 

 and moreover unnecessary, for the object we have in 

 view, to enter into a more minute comparison in this 

 respect of our own population with others of ancient or 

 modern times. As regards most if not all of those 

 moral qualities which we have stated to be typical of 

 the rider temperament, we stand confessedly very high 

 in the scale, leaving altogether aside all that England 

 has done for the breeding of horses ; moreover, we have 

 amongst us a much greater proportion of men who can 

 ride tant bien que 7nal than any other civilized nation ; 

 in fact, the class of men that ride for pleasure or conve- 

 nience is with us very large, whereas everywhere else 

 it is very small, almost minute ; for the equestrian na- 

 tions that still exist in different parts of the world mount 

 their horses as a means of gaining and maintaining their 

 existence much more frequently than for mere pleasure. 



This is, however, precisely what brings into the sad- 

 dle a great number of people who do not belong to the 

 class of born riders, or have perhaps neither the time, 

 opportunity nor desire to do more than enjoy a pleas 



