COS 



and thighs; on the due and instantaneous ])eiTormance of the alternate 

 motions, forward and backward ; and on the preservation of the equi- 

 libr'nim. 



In the fl3'ing leap, the chief object is to maintain firm hold with your 

 legs and thighs, and to lean sufficiently backward the instant you feel 

 tlie spring, remaining in that position, until the Horse has fairly landed 

 with his hinder feet ; unless you are most careful in this respect, you may 

 possibly land with or before him. As to taking high and dangerous 

 Jeaps, and with raw, hot, or unpractised Horses, I shall only say for 

 myself, that I beg to be excused. I shall not attempt to quench the 

 spirit in others; should they break a limb or a neck, it is their affair. 

 There should be some men qualified by nature to mount the breach. 



The shy, RESTiiF, and vk ious Horse. With the shy Horse there is 

 no remedy but patience and holding him hard in hand, and forcing him 

 to go straight on about his business. The remedy of correction is worse 

 than the disease. It is not always useful, and often foolish, to force the 

 Horse up to the object, about which, perhaps, in truth, he cares as little 

 as yourself, only some devil has put it into his head, to be frolicsome or 

 knavish ; and should it be real fear, you had better make him pass de- 

 liberately and slowly, and accustom him to the sight of a variety of ob- 

 jects at home. 



Horses may be naturally vicious, or unquiet and restiff from defec- 

 tive management in their youth, or acquired ill habits. It is a poor de- 

 pendence, to suppose, that a naturally vicious Horse is conquered and 

 formed — naturam expe lias f urea ? He may be temporarily subdued, but 

 his intractable humour will return with the first apt occasion, and one 

 most profitable occasion is, being mounted by an inferior horseman, 

 which a beast of this description recognizes instinctively, and almost im- 

 mediately. The eyes of this species generally unmask them. I shall cut 

 this subject short, as I generally ha\ e not any connection with them. In 

 the mean time, why does au}' man who values his lite and limbs, and 

 those of his family and servants, keep any Horse which is not quiet and 

 obedient? When I hear of this geatleman's Horse throwing him, and of 

 another's curricle being run-away with by the Horses, broken to shatters, 

 and himself and his lady thrown out and dangerously hurt, whilst I 



commiserate 



