Horses. 79 



breast of such a man when he feels that all the strength 

 and swiftness of the noble animal that bears him have 

 become his own swiftness and his own strength ; that he, 

 who but a moment before was the slowest of creatures, 

 may now follow the wild fox and the antelope ; that, if 

 need were, he could traverse three horizons in a day. It 

 is this pride and delight of horsemanship, and not the 

 mere physical exertion, which gladden the heart of man 

 and add to his health and courage. Can any sensation be 

 finer than that of a good rider, well mounted, going across 

 the country at full speed .' Only one other sensation is 

 comparable to it, that of steering a lively vessel when the 

 mainsail is wet with spray, and the sheet is straining tight, 

 and the topmast bends like whalebone, and the wind blows 

 fair and free ! 



An American newspaper lamented not long ago that 

 rich men in the United States had such a mania for driving 

 that they had thrown the saddle aside. The same evil 

 may be observed in France, and is even perceptible in 

 England, the last stronghold of noble equestrianism. The 

 excellence of modern roads, and the perfection of modern 

 carriage-building, have brought about this result. Thou- 

 sands of men own horses in these days who never bought 

 such a thing as a saddle, and would not know what to do 

 if hoisted into one ; and their carriages are so very luxu- 

 rious as to be beneficial to nobody but invalids. There 

 are three classes of horse-owners — the men who can ride, 

 the men who can drive, and lastly the men who can sit 

 still and be driven about by a coachman. To the last the 

 horse is purely and simply a locomotive, into which his owner 

 puts fuel and water at stated times that it may make his 

 wheels go round. The drivers take a real interest in 

 horses, and often show great courage and attain quite a 



