RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



the stones at either end, only to be replaced when 

 he reached his destination. In three months' 

 time, he told me, he had gained more practical 

 knowledge of horsemanship, and more muscular 

 power below the waist, than in all the hunting, 

 larking, and riding-school drill of the previous 

 three years. 



Grace is, after all, but the result of repressed 

 strength. The loose and easy seat that seems to 

 sway so carelessly with every motion, can tighten 

 itself by instinct to the compression of a vice, and 

 the "prettiest rider," as they say in Ireland, is 

 probably the one whom a kicker or buck-jumper 

 would find the most difficult to dislodge. No 

 doubt in the field, the ride, the parade, or the 

 polo-ground a strong seat is the first of those 

 many qualities that constitute good horsemanship. 

 The real adept is not to be unseated by any 

 catastrophe less conclusive than complete down- 

 fall of man and beast ; nay, even then he parts 

 company without confusion, and it may be said 

 of him as of " William of Deloraine," good at 

 need in a like predicament — 



" Still sate the warrior, saddle fast. 

 Till, stumbling in the mortal shock, 

 Down went the steed, the girthing broke, 

 Hurled in a heap lay man and horse." 



But I have a strong idea Sir William did not 

 let his bridle go even then. 



102 



