188 THE SEAT. 



one or both legs as an " aid." Having only one hand on 

 the reins, he has to rely more on the legs to guide his 

 horse than a hunting man would have to do. As the 

 assumption of the initiative is never allowed to the high school 

 horse, and but seldom to the trooper, both have to be kept 

 far more in hand by reins and legs than an ordinary riding 

 horse, whose cleverness and intelligence will often extricate 

 his rider out of a difficulty. In polo, the demands for control 

 over the horse are nearly similar to those in military riding ; 

 hence there is little difference in the seat for either of these 

 two purposes, except that at polo, as in hunting, uniformity 

 of appearance is not a matter for consideration. As our 

 Cavalry have to perform over rough ground in the open, 

 as well as on parade and in the school, it would be desirable 

 if they were taught to vary their seat according to circum- 

 stances ; but as this is not practicable, our military authorities 

 have wisely introduced a seat which is a compromise between 

 the academic school seat and the hunting seat. 



In hunting and race riding, the great object is to enable 

 the horse to do his work with the least possible fatigue to 

 himself. Consequently, the rider should not only interfere 

 with him as little as practicable, but should also conform to 

 the animal's movements, which he could not do if he were 

 obliged to maintain a rigidly uniform kind of seat, to say 

 nothing about the resulting fatigue to himself. There is no 

 difference in the seat for hunting and for steeplechasing, in 

 both of which, men usually ride a hole or two shorter than 

 when hacking ; because they have greater necessity to be 

 able to lean back at times. Also, it is less fatiguing to ride 

 with stirrups which are a trifle short than with those that 

 are slightly long. The respective seats adopted by the gene- 

 rality of Australian rough riders, American cow-boys and 

 Cossacks, for instance, are those which are specially suitable 

 to their saddles. As regards hunting, we should not forget 



