TRAINING THE YOUNG HORSE 77 



judicious with the majority of riding horses ; but supposing the 

 young one that you are saddling to have a barrel, if you put the 

 saddle in its proper place, before the horse has gone a hundred 

 yards it will slip forward, and the girth will become too slack. 

 The best plan therefore is to put the saddle, in the first place, 

 on that part of the horse's back where he is most likely by his 

 formation to carry it, and tighten the girth only sufficiently to 

 keep it there. The stirrup leathers and irons should be taken 

 off the saddle altogether, and not put on until you are ready to 

 have the horse backed. It is bad to have the stirrup irons 

 dangling about and hitting the horse on the elbow nearly every 

 step he takes, and if you fasten them up they are always liable 

 to work down ; so I think they are better kept off, at any rate 

 in the beginning. If a crupper is to be used to the saddle, the 

 man who is putting it on should not stand too far away from 

 the horse, or, as mentioned previously when we were considering 

 the taking up the near hind leg, he renders himself more liable 

 to get kicked ; the man who is holding the horse should keep 

 his head a little to the left, so that in the event of his kicking 

 he would throw his croup to the right. The crupper should 

 have a buckle on the near side, close to the dock piece ; this 

 makes it much easier to put on. The tail should not be raised 

 by pulling at the hair, but the right hand should be placed 

 under the dock, the tail raised in that way, and the crupper 

 placed under it with the left hand and buckled ; but before 

 buckling it, it is necessary to see that the hair is clear on both 

 sides. Then let the tail quietly down again. It is a mistake 

 to have the crupper too long, as then, if the horse moves his 

 tail about, the hair is much more likely to work up under it 

 than if properly fitted, and this will have a greater tendency to 

 make him kick than if it be too short. When properly fitted the 

 crupper should allow the hand to turn easily beneath it on the 

 horse's croup. The length can be measured pretty nearly 

 before putting it on, so that it should not require much, if any, 

 alteration afterwards. I do not consider that any horse that 

 needs a crupper is fit for riding purposes, but as he may also 



