hiti'oductory Chapter. 25 



that apply to all without exception. There is a great 

 value in schools ; tor, making due allowance for indi- 

 viduality, they enable us to form a correct estimate of 

 what the scholars can do. For instance, in "welters'* 

 we impose penalties on professional jocks because we 

 know that they have been trained in a certain school, 

 whereas we have no standard of comparison for gentle- 

 men-riders. 



It is proposed to illustrate this portion of the book 

 with drawings of horsemen, representing various styles 

 of European and Asiatic riding, taken from portraits, 

 photographs and pictures executed by artists who had 

 no preconceived theories to bolster up, and picked 

 nearly at random from such materials as were available. 

 They will be found to confirm, in a remarkable man- 

 ner, the truth of the general principles laid down, as 

 well by their discrepancies as their points of resem- 

 blance, and will no doubt prove interesting to many 

 readers in other respects. 



The European cavalry soldier is compelled to put on 

 his horse's back, in addition to his own weight and 

 that of the saddle, the extra burden of a huge pack of 

 things forming his kit. It is obvious that the most 

 careful adjustment of the rider and saddle to the gene- 

 ral equilibrium of himself and horse will avail little if 

 the balance be destroyed from the moment the pack is 

 put on ; nor will it do to make this merely a counter- 

 poise to the rider, because he is frequently required to 

 ride either in an empty saddle or with various amounts 

 of pack, therefore the equilibrium must be at all times 

 maintainable, whatever the absolute weight may be. 

 The neglect of this is one of the main causes of the 

 sore-back disasters that usually occur at the commence- 

 ment of a campaign, and, to the great astonishment of 

 the uninitiated, frequently nearly disappear in the fur. 

 ther course of it. 

 3 



