Once, in the big contests in the Gym, I got either into the finals or semi-finals, I forget which; but aside from this the chief part I played was to act as trial horse for some friend or classmate who did have a chance of distinguishing himself in the championship contests.
I was fond of horseback-riding, but I took to it slowly and with difficulty, exactly as with boxing.

It was a long time before I became even a respectable rider, and I never got much higher.

I mean by this that I never became a first-flight man in the hunting field, and never even approached the bronco-busting class in the West.

Any man, if he chooses, can gradually school himself to the requisite nerve, and gradually learn the requisite seat and hands, that will enable him to do respectably across country, or to perform the average work on a ranch.
Of my ranch experiences I shall speak later.

At intervals after leaving college I hunted on Long Island with the Meadowbrook hounds.