RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



of his powerful back and quarters, a vigorous lift 

 that seems to reach two-thirds of the required 

 distance, a second spring, apparently taken from 

 a twig weak enough to bend under a bird, that 

 covers the remainder, a scramble for foothold, a 

 half-stride, and a snort of satisfaction, the whole is 

 disposed of, and you are alone with the hounds. 



Though, under such circumstances, these seem 

 pretty sure to run to ground or otherwise dis- 

 appoint you within half a mile, none the less 

 credit is due to your horse's capabilities, and you 

 vow next season to have nothing but Irish nags 

 in your stable, resolving for the future to ride 

 straighter than you have ever done before. 



But if you are so well pleased now with your 

 promising Patlander, what shall you think of him 

 this time next year, when he has had twelve 

 months of your stud-groom's stable-management, 

 and consumed ten or a dozen quarters of good 

 English oats ? Though you may have bought 

 him as a six-year-old, he will have grown in size 

 and substance,, even in height, and will not only 

 look, but feel up to a stone more weight than you 

 ever gave him credit for. He can jump when 

 he is blown now, but he will never be blown then. 

 Condition will teach him to laugh at the deep 

 ground, while his fine shoulders and true shape 

 will enable him, after the necessary practice, to 

 travel across ridge-and-furrow without a lurch. 



ISO 



