RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



At timber, I would not have you quite so 



confident. When, as in Leicestershire, it is set 



fairly in line with the fence and there is a good 



take-off, your horse, however impetuous, may 



leap it with impunity in his stroke, but should 



the ground be poached by cattle, or dip as you 



come to it, beware of too great hurry. The 



feat ought then to be accomplished calmly and 



collectedly at a trot, the horse taking his time, 



so to speak, from the motions of his rider, and 



jumping, as it is called, "to his hand." Now 



when man and horse are at variance on so 



important a matter as pace, the one is almost 



sure to interfere at the wrong moment, the other 



to take off too soon or get too close under his 



leap ; in either case the animal is more likely to 



rise at a fence than a rail, and if unsuccessful in 



clearing it a binder is less dangerous to flirt with 



than a bar. Lord Wilton seems to me to ride at 



timber a turn slower than usual. Lord Grey a 



turn faster. Whether father and son differ in 



theory I am unable to say, I can only affirm that 



both are undeniable in practice. Mr. Fellowes 



of Shottisham, perhaps the best of his day, and 



Mr. Gilmour, facile princepSy almost walk up to 



this kind of leap ; Colonel, now General Pearson, 



known for so many seasons as "the fiying 



Captain," charges it like a squadron of Sikh 



cavalry; Captain Arthur Smith pulls back to a 



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