by the colonel to the construction of this piece
of mechanism, for which he claims, however, an
amount of honour and glory which we shall
hardly be disposed to concede to him, when he
affirms "that it is a matter beyond doubt that it
remains unparalleled among inventions."

The writer of this work then goes on to tell
us that by practising sufficiently upon this
unparalleled invention you may be "taught to
counteract any series of movements the most
vicious horse may practise;" that through it
"the different theories of horsemanship
advocated by our modern schools may be put to a
practical test;" that the Mechanical Horse
stretches—horrible to relate— "all the muscles,
sinews, and tendons;" " teaches the rider always
to keep his balance while on horseback, or in
case of need to disentangle himself from it,
safely landing upon his legs." We are further
told that the inexpensive diet of our friend the
M. H. consists of a few tablespoonfuls of oil
now and then, in the course of the day, and the
same quantity of tallow per week, and we are
cautioned that it should be always fitted up in
a room "at least twenty-six feet square, because
the horse, if rapidly turned, may fling its rider a
distance of three or four yards."

These inviting preliminaries disposed of,
Colonel von Hamel gives us a list of the
different exercises which are to be practised by the
student who would master this fiery quadruped.
These exercises are no less than thirty-two in
number, and are in some cases rather remarkable.
Take, for instance, No. 1. "To mount (without
spurs), from the left side (the horse being
quiet), in the horizontal position, rearing, kicking,
and leaning position." Now, passing over
the mysterious caution about spurs, which in a
sane community one would hardly think could
be needful, one may venture to inquire,—did
any one ever see a horse remain "quiet" when
in a rearing, kicking, or leaning position? As
to this last, by-the-by, we are free to confess
that a horse in a leaning position, unless with
something to lean against, is altogether an
equestrian novelty to us, nor do we believe that
any man in his senses would wish to be on the
back of an animal which had so far lost itself as
to have contracted this slothful habit. As to
the two other positions mentioned, it is true
that a man might, under some circumstances
—may they ever remain practically unknown to
us—want to mount a rearing or kicking horse,
but then surely the animal would all the time be
in violent motion, and having mastered the art
of mounting a beast which remained quite
stationary, with his hind-legs or his fore-legs
high in air, would prove of but little use when
you come to have dealings with an
unmechanical horse in a state of violent activity.

Exercise No. 9. "Riding up and down hill,
with sudden turning, the hill being low or very
steep," has an alarming sound, but what is it to
No. 11, "The side jump and twist—as also the
falling on right or left side, as upon ice"? What
a complication of horrors is suggested by this
exercise. Having the ill-luck to possess a horse
with a pernicious habit of jumping and twisting,
your occasions require that you should
invariably take your ride upon the ice; to get
yourself in training for this sort of fun, away
you go to the M. H., and learn how to conduct
yourself under the circumstances.

In Exercise 12, "The horse turns round to the
left, while rearing, kicking, buck-jumping, or
jumping to the side or twist;" and in 13 the
same takes place " to the right;" while in No.
27 " the rider stands in the left stirrup, and the
horse rears, kicks, jumps, or twists; "though why
he should stand in one stirrup while undergoing
so terrible an ordeal, instead of sitting close
with both feet well dug into both stirrups, it
would be hard to say.

One or two specimens of these exercises
must suffice, but having duly practised the whole
thirty-two a sufficient number of times, the
pupil is promised by Colonel von Hamel: "1, a
great suppleness of the body, and a firm seat;
2, an elegant and unconstrained deportment; 3,
a firm hand; 4, the presence of mind requisite to
govern himself and horse; 5, he will be
acquainted with all tricks and vicious habits of the
horse; 6, all danger being past, he will have got
rid of that timidity so injurious to persons who
have never been on horseback; 7, he will be
under no embarrassment in jumping ditches or
fences; 8, in any position he will be able to keep
his balance without any over-exertion."

Whether all these advantages are attainable
by means of practising on the Mechanical Horse
or not is a matter of question; whether the man
who can get at last to be able to sit the M. H.
will be an accomplished rider on the living animal,
is uncertain; but for one thing we can most
certainly vouch by personal observation, and
this is, that a man may be a practised and expert
horseman as far as the real living quadruped is
concerned, and be entirely unable to keep his
seat on the back of the Mechanical Horse.

On the occasion of a certain visit which we
paid to this exhibition, there were present all
sorts of persons who were devoted to what
Colonel von Hamel calls the "equestrian career."
There were both amateurs and professionals,
rough-riders, grooms, and even a farrier of the
Life Guards. This last individual was so
entirely convinced by what he saw that if he
got on he should infallibly soon find himself
sprawling on the mattresses, that nothing—no,
not all the persuasions which were lavished upon
him by everybody present, would induce him to
try his luck. Perhaps he felt that he was too
big to let down his dignity, perhaps he thought
that his rolling on the tick would seriously
compromise the service. At any rate, he refrained
from exhibiting himself. And he did well.

Other and more enterprising spirits were not
wanting. They saw the showman keep on, and
saw no reason why they should not keep on top.
But they forgot one very important element in
his success. It has been mentioned that while
one of the professionals employed to exhibit the
Mechanical Horse was mounted on his back, the
other, by pulling a cord, directed and gave