8 RIDING 



born with hands and some without, and to some all the teach- 

 ing in the world will not give hands. Those who are gifted 

 with natural good hands require no teaching. An apt pupil with 

 bad hands may acquire better. He may be taught that to keep 

 a constant firm pull at a horse's mouth both deadens it and tires 

 the rider. Many a fall over a fence, or even over a mole-hill 

 in the open in galloping, is due to the bad hands of the rider, 

 and not to the clumsiness of the horse. Explain to the boy 

 that when his pony pulls at him, and he is obliged to pull 

 against him, that by every now and then dropping his hands 

 and letting go of his pony's mouth he will ease his arms, and 

 at the same time relieve the deadness of the pony's mouth. 

 This advice is applicable to both girls and boys. Delicate as 

 girls' and women's hands are as a rule, I have known some with 

 very bad heavy hands, as on the contrary I have known many 

 strong men with very fine light hands. As remarked before, 

 the most difficult thing to teach a beginner is to ride with light 

 hands, but when the pupil is willing to learn bad hands can be 

 greatly improved. 



What has been written as instruction for boys and girls need 

 not be repeated for the benefit of adult beginners. As the boy 

 is said to be the father of the man, that which will instruct 

 him as a child is equally applicable to him if he begins to 

 learn when he is a man. Let him treat his pony or his horse 

 kindly, and never ill-use him. Let him establish an under- 

 standing between his hand and his horse's mouth, and he will 

 find that he can turn and twist him where he likes and when he 

 likes, without having to take two hands to him. A boy should 

 be taught to use his legs as well as his hands, and by gentle, 

 or on occasion by forcible, pressure he will find that his horse 

 can be guided as much or more by the legs than by the hands. 

 When he arrives at combining the two he will have become a 

 proficient horseman. He will escape many collisions in a big 

 field of horsemen, he will avoid a tree in a fence, and he will 

 be able to open a gate in half the time, and save his knees 

 from many bumps by this means. A lady or girl is heavily 



