If any one should ask me how it comes to pass that Riding, which I have substituted as equivalent to any or all the Exercises of the Ancients, in the Case of Sickness, was so little regarded by their Physicians, but other less valuable Exercises insisted on; it may be reply’d, that the Ancients could not recommend Riding to weak People, because of their manner of Riding; they had not the same convenience, as we have; for in those days they rode without Stirrups, which must needs be tiresome to weak Persons. We find by comparing of Medals, that the Stirrup was an Invention of a much later date, than any of the Authors I have quoted, I think by about Seven Hundred Years; so that Riding was only an Exercise for Healthy and strong Men; besides Horses were not so common in the _Levant_, or in _Italy_, as they are with us; they were reserv’d for Military Men, or at least for Men of Plentiful Fortunes, and the Ass and the Mule serv’d for common Carriage; the Horse was a formidable Creature to People that were not accustom’d to him, and especially to weak Persons. We see such a Jolly Fellow as _Martial_, could advise his Friend _Priscus_, to have a Care how he hunted, _Lib. 12. Epig. 14._ _Parcius utaris, moneo, rapiente Veredo_ _Prisce, nec in Lepores tam violen ter eas._ And in the Close of the Epigram, _Quid te fræna juvant temararia! Sæpius illis,_ _Prisce, datum est equitem rumpere, quam Leporem._ And that this Humour still remains in those Countries, tho’ we have a better way of Riding, is evident from Dr. _Baglivi_, who tells us in the _Corollaries_ of the _8th_ Chapter of his _first_ Book, _de Fib. Motrice_, That he Cur’d two Hypochondriacal Persons, _Hominem Nobilem ac alium Divitem_, a Gentleman and another rich Man, that he says were desperately Ill, by Riding on Asses in the Country Air; and I believe all will agree to think they were desperately Ill, who could despense with the Ass-trot, when their Circumstances would have afforded them the Carriage of a better Creature. The _Italians_ plainly discover likewise, how little they are addicted to Horsemanship, in that Proverb of theirs which says, _That a Galloping Horse is an open Sepulchre_; and according to this Opinion, they manage their Horse-Races at _Florence_, for they make their Horses run without Riders upon ’em, something after the manner of a Paddock-Course; and to make ’em run the faster, they clap a Saddle upon ’em, cover’d with a Sort of Tinsey Stuff, that may make a fluttering with the Motion of the Horse, and fright him that he may run the faster; and instead of Stirrups, there hangs down Straps from the Saddle, at the end of which, there are Balls full of sharp Spikes, which leap up and down, and prick the Horse as he runs. This ridiculous way of Running their Horses, shews how great is the Prevalence of that habitual Timorousness, which keeps ’em from the Enjoyment of the best and most useful sort of Riding, as the Ancients could distinguish very well,