RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



accept it as a necessity for enjoyment of the 

 sport. Avoid water especially, unless you have 

 reason to believe the bottom is good, and you 

 can go in and out. Even under such favourable 

 conditions, look well to your egress. There is 

 never much difficulty about the entrance, and do 

 not forget that the middle is often the shallowest, 

 and always the soundest part of a brook. When 

 tempted therefore to take a horse, that you know 

 is a bad water -jumper, at this serious obstacle, 

 you are most likely to succeed if you only ask 

 him to jump half-way. Should he drop his hind 

 legs under the farther bank, he will probably not 

 obtain foothold to extricate himself, particularly 

 with your weight on his back. 



We are all panic-stricken, and with reason, at 

 the idea of being submerged, but we might wade 

 through many more brooks than we usually 

 suppose. I can remember seeing the Rowsham, 

 generally believed to be bottomless, forded in 

 perfect safety by half a dozen of the finest and 

 heaviest bullocks the Vale of Aylesbury ever 

 fattened into beef. This, too, close to a hunting- 

 bridge, put there by Baron Rothschild because 

 of the depth and treacherous nature of the 

 stream ! 



A hard road, however, though to be avoided 

 religiously when enjoying a good place with 

 hounds, is an invaluable ally on these occasions 



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