CHAPTER VI 



SEAT 



SOME people tell you they ride by "balance," 

 others by "grip." I think a man might as 

 well say he played the fiddle by " finger," or by 

 ear. Surely in either case a combination of both 

 is required to sustain the performance with 

 harmony and success. The grip preserves the 

 balance, which in turn prevents the grip becoming 

 irksome. To depend on the one alone is to come 

 home very often with a dirty coat, to cling wholly 

 by the other is to court as much fatigue in a day 

 as ought to serve for a week. I have more than 

 once compared riding to swimming, it seems to 

 require the same buoyancy of spirits, the same 

 venture of body, the same happy combination of 

 confidence, strength, and skill. 



The seat a man finds easiest to himself, says 

 the inimitable Mr. Jorrocks, " will in all humane 

 probability be the easiest to his 'oss ! " and in 

 this, as in every other remark of the humorous 

 grocer, there is no little wisdom and truth. "If 



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