RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



knew better than most people, when he wrote his 

 thrillinof Hnes : — 



" Then steady, my young one ! the place I've selected 

 Above the dwaif willow, is sound, I'll be bail ; 

 With your muscular quarters beneath you collected, 

 Prepare for a rush like the limited mail ! " 



But we cannot always be on the grass, nor, 

 happily, are any of us obliged, often in a lifetime, 

 to ride at the Whissendine ! 



In ploughed land, choose a wet furrow, for the 

 simple reason that water would not stand in it 

 unless the bottom were hard, but if you cannot 

 find one, nor a footpath, nor a cart-track trampled 

 down into a certain consistency, remember the 

 fable of the hare and the tortoise, pull your horse 

 back into a trot, and never fear but that you will 

 be able to make up your leeway when you arrive 

 at better ground. It is fortunate that the fences 

 are usually less formidable here than in the 

 pastures, and will admit of creeping into, and 

 otherwise negotiating, with less expenditure of 

 power, so you may travel pretty safely, and turn 

 at pleasure, shorter than the hounds. 



There are plough countries, notably in 

 Gloucestershire and Wilts, that ride light. To 

 them the above remarks in no way apply. 

 Enclosed with stone walls, if there is anything 

 like a scent, hounds carry such a head, and run 

 so hard over these districts, that you must simply 



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