44 SKATS AND SADDLES. 



is, in the instance before us, perpendicularly upwards, as 

 shown by the upper arrow ; and the antagonistic force 

 of gravitation — in plain language, the weight of the 

 rider — will he best met when it acts in precisely the op- 

 posite direction, or perpendicularly downwards in the 

 direction of the lower arrow ; and therefore, if the 

 weight of the rider lie, from his mode of sitting, across 

 this perpendicular — for instance, towards the shoulders 

 — the force coming /rowi this direction will be met more 

 directly and consumed in proportion; that coming from 

 the other being spared. 



The two forces of the hind and fore legs may not be, 

 however, and in many horses, in consequence of want 

 of symmetry, are not, equal in intensity. In untrained 

 horses they seldom are. Judicious handling and riding 

 are nothing else, in fact, than finding a proper balance 

 of forces, as well for the untrained well-built horse as 

 for one that is defective in symmetry. 



It would carry us too far to go into the detail of the 

 various modes in which the forces exerted by pairs of 

 the hind and fore legs respectively cross each other — 

 as also the centre of gravity itself in walk, trot, canter, 

 &c. The proper methods of shifting the rider's weight 

 from right to left, so as to favour the diagonal action 

 of the pairs of feet, may be easily deduced from the 

 study of these. But it is not our object to wiite a 

 treatise on equitation ; and for intelligent riders, what 

 has been already said will suffice to clear up the doubts 

 that may arise in practice. Indeed the scope of the 

 whole of this chapter has been to set men thinking for 

 themselves, instead of working by rule of thumb, and 

 not to dictate any particular method to them. 



