IN THE SADDLE

Recreation in the saddle fills a want that is not met by other recreations. The wheel encounters many obstacles in rough, stony, mountainous country; a canoe loses the finest or wildest pl aces, unless in the Adirondacks;  Carriage-riding is devoid of the desired exercise; walking would hit the mark, if it were not too slow and exhausting; but to the horseman almost every pathway is accessible, the unbridged stream is a pleasure. The exercise is full, though not exhausting, and, taking all the most attractive portions of the country into account,  here is open to him the greatest possible variety of pleasant experiences.

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Confiding in an easy saddle-horse, callous to the pains of long riding, with imagination on the alert to make the most of the surroundings, yet not to distort them, and with a genuine abandonment to the journey that forbade the intrusion of a care, I set out from the southern part of Berkshire with a companion on a tour to Howe’s Cave in Schoharie County, N.Y., and through the whole Catskill country, — a distance of two hundred and thirty miles in the saddle, and about fort miles in mountain-climbing on foot. He who travels for pleasure, and has his mind occupied with the cares of his every-day employment, or is fretted by the little annoyances that come upon him now and then, had better stay at home. The full enjoyment of continuous horseback- riding for long distances depends upon so many things that it demands more experience than any other kind of travelling. The horse must be suitable for the saddle, or his rider will have a miserable time. Put the cart-horse before the cart, drive the carriage-horse where he belongs, confine the trotting-horse to the light carriage or sulky, but do not ride any of them, for they are unfit for the saddle. A practised eye tells a good saddle-horse on sight, whether he has ever been ridden or not. Do not get a horse that strikes the earth with his feet as if he meant to bury them in it, nor one that throws himself several inches off the ground at every step; a horse that comes the nearest to gliding over the ground is the one we want. Read on...