RIDING ESTABLISHMENTS 239 



rookies of Xenopohon's ever-glorious Ten 

 Thousand. 



There are three types of Riding Establish- 

 ment : the closed building, so hot that it 

 stupefies the man just when he needs his 

 brains ; the ring in a field which has at least the 

 blessings of fresh air ; and the open field of the 

 up-to-date instructors. A cheery and sympa- 

 thetic Riding Master will do better under a 

 roof than a bully can even in the open field, 

 but the best and most rapid training I have 

 ever seen was given in open field by a Regular 

 soldier who abstained from losing his temper. 

 In civil life I had seen a range horseman teach- 

 ing English pupils with equal success, and the 

 methods of the two masters were identical. 

 Men who had never mounted before were 

 taught within a week such circus tricks as 

 jumping, wrestling bareback, tug-of-war 

 mounted, and making horses climb over ugly 

 ground. It was a punishment to be excluded 

 from the lessons. From the civilian school 

 pupils passed out after six months' training 

 and earned a living as stock riders. From the 

 military school the men were transferred to a 

 station with the old ring menage and never 

 recovered the resulting leeway. Given equally 

 good instructors, I should say that one month's 



