us that a wise providence has placed a limit on a horse's
bucking capabilities. I think that ten or twelve bucks, given in good
style and without an interval for recuperation, is about as much as any
horse can do, but possibly my Australian readers can give statistics on
this point. I hope I am not offending them in saying that Australian
horses are the most accomplished buck-jumpers I have met. Australian
shippers send many of them over to India, and rely on the long sea
voyage to quieten them down, which it does to a certain extent. Mr.
Macklin, an Australian importer, told me that a horse-carrying ship was
wrecked on some part of the coast, an island, I believe, between
Australia and India, and that there is a big colony of wild horses to be
picked up by anyone who will go and take them. I like Australian
horses, because they are excellent jumpers, have beautiful shoulders
and are remarkably sound in wind and limb. They are moreover handsome
breedy looking animals, and those of them which are addicted to bucking,
soon give up this vice, if ridden by capable people.

A lady who finds herself on a bucking horse should try her best to keep
both her head and her seat, and not be in any way disconcerted by
hearing the angry grunts which such animals often give with each buck
they make to get her off. She should lean back and firmly grip her
crutches as in sitting over a fence, and should try to imagine that she
is jumping a line of obstacles placed close together. If she feels any
forward displacement after one buck, she must hastily get into position
to be ready for the next one, without pausing for a moment to think,
because there will be no time for thought, and her recovery of balance
must be done automatically, while the animal is doubling himself up for
his next buck. If her hat, which is generally the first thing to leave
the saddle, flies off, no notice must be taken, because the instant the
rider devotes her attention to anything else but sticking on, she
relaxes her grip and stands a good chance of being thrown. The most
difficult of all bucking I have experienced was when hunting in
Leicestershire on a young Argentine mare, which started to buck when we
were galloping down hill over deep ridge and furrow. I knew her bucking
propensities, because my husband broke her in and I had had a good deal
of bucking practice with her, so I was able to remain, but that down
hill ridge and furrow performance was extremely ha