52 HORSEMANSHIP. 



freedom of hand till his seat be firm, and this grip, com- 

 bined with balance — both essentials — is only to be acquired 

 by riding, as the famous Xumidian cavalry of Carthage, 

 stirrupless. The late Major Whyte-]\Ielville quotes one un- 

 deniable authority as a noteworthy exponent of the advan- 

 tages of this practice as a groundwork for beginners. " The 

 late Captain Percy Williams, as brilliant a rider over a 

 country as ever cheered a hound, and to whom few jockeys 

 would care to give five pounds on a race-course, assured me 

 that he attributed to the above self-denying exercise that 

 strength in the saddle which used to serve him so well from 

 the distance home. When quartered at Hounslow with his 

 regiment, the 9th Lancers, like other gay young light 

 dragoons, he liked to spend all his available time in London. 

 There were no railroads in those days, and the coaches did 

 not always suit for time : but he owned a sound, speedy, 

 high-trotting hack, and on this '• bone-setter " he travelled 

 backwards and forwards twelve miles of the great Bath road, 

 with military regularity, half as many times in the week. 

 He made it a rule to cross his stirrups over his horse's 

 shoulders the moment he was off the stones at either end, 

 only to be replaced when he reached his destination. In 

 three months time, he told me, he had gained more practical 

 knowledge of horsemanship, and more muscular power 

 below the waist, than in all the hunting, larking, and riding- 

 school drills of the previous three years." 



According to the strict rules of the riding-school, the 

 proper length of the stirrup leathers is determined by the 

 sole of the stirrup iron touching the lower edge of the ankle- 

 bone when the foot hangs loose. Another method of deter- 

 mining the suitable length of stirrup leather is to place the 

 tips of the fingers of the right hand against the bar to which 

 the leathers are huni:. and measuring from the bottom bar 



