12 MARCH 1954, Page 7

The End of the Season

As we hacked home I realised that my first memories of this country road, with its inconsequent twists and its variable diameter, had been acquired from the back of a pony; and I began to wonder whether the small girl at the other end of the leading rein would have the good luck to be able to go on riding when she was grown up. People who ride are gener- ally assumed, by those who don't, to be unimaginative, crass and liable to choler; and no doubt they are more prone to these failings than balletomanes, amateurs of painting and others who follow more refined pursuits. But I remain a believer in the horse as an agent of education. Riding does not make you virtuous or wise, but it teaches you more about the