Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XV INCIDENTS AND REMEDIES In pig-sticking, as in hunting, a certain amount of grief is to be expected. I know of nothing so amusing as a real crumpling fall to another, nor of anything so good for a man's own nerve as a similar fall to himself without damage--a regular galloping fall for choice, horse and man, six legs in the air, and then a puff of dust rising from where they have hit the ground as if a shell had burst. It is the slow falls that cause the grief, not the galloping ones. If a man is to keep young and active he must fall. And I suggest, with all due deference to the authorities, that there should be an entry in each senior officer's report as to how many falls he has taken in the past twelve months. Not that in pig-sticking I regard falls as a sign of either bravery or horsemanship. Some of the best men I know seldom fall, and I can only ascribe this to their good hands and leaving their horses alone. There is undoubtedly an art in falling. One friend of mine never hurts himself. He stands 6 feet 4 inches, and only hits the ground in sections at a time. I find I get damaged more often than I used to. I always fall on my left shoulder and tuck my head in, leave go of the reins and roll. To tuck your head in is essential if you do not want to break your neck. Some people always hurt themselves, while others generally avoid injury. Mr. Garrard in the 5th Dragoon Guards had spent some leave in a riding stable, and it was most instructive to see him jumping chairs or a sofa in the billiard-room, landing on his shoulder on the hard floor without using either hands or arms to save himself. In England it seems to me that people send for professional aid on the first symptom of anything wrong with their horses or...
