CHAPTER III 



THE USE OF THE BRIDLE 



THE late Mr. Maxse, celebrated some fifty 

 years ago for a fineness of hand that en- 

 abled him to cross Leicestershire with fewer falls 

 than any'other sportsman of fifteen stone who rode 

 equally straight, used to profess much comical 

 impatience with the insensibility of his servants to 

 this useful quality. He was once seen explaining 

 what he meant to his coachman with a silk hand- 

 kerchief passed round a post. 



"Pull at it!" said the master. " Does it pull 

 at you ? " 



"Yes, sir," answered the servant, grinning. 



" Slack It off, then. Does It pull at you now ? " 



"No, sir." 



"Well, then, you double-distilled fool, can't you 

 see that your horses are like that post? If 

 you don't pull at i^/iem they won't pull at yo2i ! " 



Now it seems to me that In riding, and driving 

 also, what we want to teach our horses is, that 

 when we pull at them they are no^ to pull at us, 



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