RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



himself in a bog ? Compare his frantic struggles 

 and sudden prostration with the discreet conduct 

 of an Exmoor pony in the same predicament. 

 The one terrified by unaccustomed danger, and 

 relying instinctively on the speed that seems his 

 natural refuge, plunges wildly forward, sinks to 

 his girths, his shoulders, finally unseats his rider, 

 and settles down, without further exertion, in the 

 stupid apathy of despair. The other, born and 

 bred in the wild west country, picking its scanty 

 keep from a foal off the treacherous surface of a 

 Devonshire moor, either refuses altogether to 

 trust the quagmire, or shortens its stride, collects 

 its energies, chooses the soundest tufts that afford 

 foothold, and failing these, flaps its way out on its 

 side, to scramble into safety with scarce a quiver 

 or a snort. It has been there before ! Herein 

 lies the whole secret. 



Some day your young one will be as calm, as 

 wise, as tractable. Alas ! that when his discretion 

 has reached its prime his legs begin to fail ! 

 Therefore cultivate his intellect — I use the word 

 advisedly — even before you enter on the develop- 

 ment of his physical powers. Nature and good 

 keep will provide for these, but to make him 

 man's willing friend and partner you must give 

 him the advantage of man's company and man's in- 

 struction. From the day you slip a halter over his 

 ears he should be encouraged to look to you, like 



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