RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



grip and exquisite handling, he seemed to persuade 

 the pupil that it was as willing as the master. 



My own spurs were four inches long, and I was 

 riding the best hunter in my stable, but I don't 

 think I would have had the same place for fifty 

 pounds ! 



A paradox, like an Irishman's bull, will some- 

 times convey our meaning more impressively than 

 a logical statement. It seems paradoxical, yet I 

 believe it is sound sense, to say that no man 

 should arm his heels with spurs unless he is so 

 good a rider as to be sure they shall not touch his 

 horse. To punish him with them involuntarily 

 is, of course, like any other blunder totally in- 

 admissible, but when applied with intention, they 

 should be used sparingly and only as a last 

 resource. That there are occasions on which they 

 rouse a horse's energies for a momentary effort, I 

 am disposed to admit, less from my own experience 

 than the opinion of those for whose practical 

 knowledge in all such matters I have the greatest 

 respect. Both the Messrs. Coventry, in common 

 with other first-rate steeplechase riders, advocate 

 their use on rare occasions and under peculiar 

 circumstances. Poor Jem Mason never went 

 hunting without them, and would not, I think, 

 have hesitated to apply them pretty freely if 

 required, but then these could all spur their horses 

 in the right place, leaning back the while and 



64' 



