The author, a sea captain by trade, spent his leisure hours on land riding his mare, Fanny. A self-confessed septuagenarian, Codman was never shy about sharing his horse-based opinions. Walking, Codman said, was a solitary entertainment and the bicycle he dismissed as being unnatural. Thus it was from the back of his horse that the old sea captain sailed over the land of his birth. This once-famous book, Winter Sketches from the Saddle, was first published in 1888. It recommends riding for your health and describes Codman s many equestrian journeys through New England during the winter of 1887. There is no greater pleasure than to find myself on a horse, Codman wrote. The next best thing is to read his classic book