36 HORSEMANSHIP. 



lower his hands, keep a somewhat dead (forgive me the 

 word !) pull on the horse's mouth, close the legs, and may 

 indicate, by slightly rising in his stirrups, his wishes to 

 his animal. The feet may be placed in the stirrup irons 

 only as far as the ball of the foot, so as to ease, by the 

 play of the ankle joints, the up-and-down action of rising 

 in the stirrups. When the horse is not pulling, the body 

 ought to be inclined slightly forwards, as in Plate I., 

 page 22, which, however, is an illustration of the seat 

 at a half-speed gallop. The harder the horse pulls, the 

 more should the rider lean his shoulders back. I do not 

 know what word to substitute for the objectionable one 

 of " dead pull," for although the expression may jar on 

 the horseman's ear, still, not one trotter in fifty will go 

 fast, and maintain an even, level gait, if the rider keeps 

 a light give-and-take feeling on the reins. The majority 

 of fast trotters are very hard pullers : some of them 

 will slacken speed the moment the rider stops pulling 

 against them. The knack (an easy one) of rising in the 

 stirrups can be learned only by practice. One should 

 endeavour to time the rise and fall of the body accurately 

 with the movements of the horse's fore legs. The up- 

 and-down motion of the rider should be only just 

 sufficient to relieve the action of the horse, and should 



