COERCION 



hand, for I have seen consummate horsemen, 

 notably Mr. Lovell, of the New Forest, who have 

 lost an arm ; nor seat, or how could Colonel 

 Fraser, late of the nth Hussars, be one of the 

 best heavy-weights over such a country as Meath, 

 with a broken and contracted thigh ? Certainly 

 not nerve, for there are few fields too scanty to 

 furnish examples of men who possess every 

 quality of horsemanship except daring. What is 

 it, then ? I cannot tell, but if you are fortunate 

 enough to possess it, whether you weigh ten 

 stone or twenty, you will be able to mount 

 yourself fifty pounds cheaper than anybody else 

 in the market ! Be it an impulse of nature, or a 

 result of education, there is a tendency in every 

 horse to make vigorous efforts at the shortest 

 notice in obedience to the inclination of a rider's 

 body or the pressure of his limbs. Such indica- 

 tions are of the utmost service in an emergency, 

 and to offer them at the happy moment is a 

 crucial test of horsemanship. Thus races are 

 "snatched out of the fire," as it is termed, by 

 riding ; and this is the quality that, where judg- 

 ment, patience, and knowledge of pace are equal, 

 renders one jockey superior to the rest. It 

 enables a proficient also to clear those large 

 fences that, in our grazing districts especially, 

 appear impracticable to the uninitiated, as if the 

 horse borrowed muscular energy, no less than 



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