LEARNING TO RIDE. 31 



while the horse is going straight on at a uniform pace, 

 be almost certain to roll off, if the animal suddenly 

 checks his speed, turns sharply, or makes any unexpected 

 movement. His fall, in any of these cases, will be 

 accelerated by the fact of his holding on in front, but 

 would be retarded by his grasping the cantle, which is, 

 after all, but a choice between two evils, and should, if 

 possible, be avoided. 



The rider who wears spurs, and finds, especially when 

 jumping, that, from time to time, he touches his horse 

 on the shoulders with them, H*ay rest assured that his 

 legs swing about, instead of remaining steady, and that 

 he is but a very indifferent performer in the pigskin. 



I wish to direct the reader's particular attention to 

 the art of inding a horse tip to his bridle. I have tried 

 on page 185, to explain why a man should always keep 

 a good hold of his horse's head, and why he should 

 never leave the reins loose during rapid movement. 

 We may readily see that if a rider simply "hangs on" 

 to the reins, the work which the fore and hind quarters 

 will have to do, will be unequally distributed between 

 them, the result being that the action of the fore legs 

 will be cramped from too much weight being thrown 

 on them, while the hind legs, being comparatively freed 



