193 



perpendicular. When the rider can see any part of his foot, he may 

 be assured, he is not in the position above described ; the sight of the 

 foot should be obstructed by the knee. 



Berringer's material directions in the formation of the true seat, are 

 as follow : Let the horseman place himself at once upon his twist, set- 

 ting exactly in the middle of the saddle ; let him support this posture, 

 in which the twist alone seems to sustain the weight of the whole body, 

 by moderately leaning upon his buttocks; let his thighs be turned in- 

 Avard, and rest flat upon the sides of the saddle ; and in order to this, let 

 the turn of the thighs proceed directly from the hips, and let him em- 

 ploy no force or strength to keep himself in the saddle, but trust to the 

 weight of his body and thighs; this is the exact equitihrc; in this consists 

 the firmness of the whole building, a firmness which young beginners 

 are never sensible of at first ; but which is to be acquired, and will 

 always be attained by exercise and practice. 



He continues — I demand but a moderate stress upon the buttocks, 

 because a man Avho sits fully upon them, can never turn his thighs 

 flat upon the saddle ; and the thighs should always lie flat, because the 

 fleshy part of the thigh being insensible, the horseman would not other- 

 Avise be able to feel the motions of his Horse : I insist that the turn of 

 the thigh should be from the hip, because this turn can never be natu- 

 ral, but as it proceeds from the holloAV of the hip-bone, I insist farther, 

 that the horseman never avail himself of the strength or help of his 

 thighs, because, beside that they Avould then be less steady, the closer 

 he pressed them to the saddle, the more Avould he be lifted up above 

 the saddle ; and Avith respect to his buttocks and thighs, he ought al- 

 Avays to be in the middle of the saddle, and set doAvn full and close 

 upon it. 



Berenger remarks, that the rules generally prescribed for the horse- 

 man's seat, have been various, and cAcn opposite, according to the 

 notions of different riding-masters, and the customs of different coun- 

 tries; and that the Italians, Spaniards, and the French, and indeed 

 every country Avhere riding is in repute, adopt each a posture, Avhich i 

 peculiar to themselves ; but he avers, that art has discovered certain 



2 c invariable 



