Such efforts at balancing never before were seen! One man on a razorback tries every spot from the mane to the croup in an attempt to find one little piece of hide whereon he might sit in peace and quiet; another on an imitation Percheron wabbles most dangerously and falls off going around the curve; another is firmly grasping the mane, or tugging at the iron mouth of some malicious brute that insists upon holding its head high, with both ears bent back to enjoy the muttered curses of the rider. The galleries are lined with the daily visitors who smile gleefully upon the embryo cavalrymen, but the distressed Yearling’s gaze turns reproachfully toward the spot where the young girls of the Post may be seen bunched together and giggling. As the days pass by the Yearling finds that his seat becomes more and more secure and by the time that he has arrived at the dignity of a Second Classman he feels that he is able to cope with the wildest of the equine breed. During the first year the drill was more or less drudgery, but after twelve months of practice he enjoys the lessons. He feels the pleasure that comes from the ability to make one’s muscles obey the will, to feel the horse yielding to the slightest touch of leg or rein. The thrill of the leap over the ditch and of the jump over the wall are sensations that he loves. Later on when he goes out to the cavalry drill ground for instruction in tactics, it is the gallop and the charge _en masse_ that give a new meaning to the word “drill.” It is no longer a task but a pleasure. His progress in handling his horse enables him to proceed to mounted pistol practice and to enjoy the privilege of riding on the road, and of polo. By the time that he has become a First Classman he is ready to devote his time not so much to equitation as to real Cavalry instruction. He learns how to reconnoiter, how to patrol. As in his Infantry instruction, he must solve problems innumerable: the forming of the advance and rear guards, the establishing of outposts, making and breaking camp, the proper conduct of the march, how to care for his horse the same as though he were an enlisted man. He must groom him, feed him, and water him. He is called upon to perform every duty that is required of enlisted men in the Cavalry so that when he shall become an officer, he will know just how much to expect of his men. He will so understand the fatigue of grooming, the difficulty of managing some horses, and the impossibility of always being alert and attentive that he will be patient and sympathetic, judging his men by their limited advantages and not by the standard that he has attained through a training _par excellence_.