THE TROT. 67 



The Trot. 



Once more, and without apology for so doing, I refer to 

 the "up-stirrup" practice so strongly advocated and so 

 constantly put into practice by that fine horseman, the late 

 Captain Percy Williams, of that good old fighting corps, 

 the 9th Lancers, as the shortest cut towards attaining a 

 thoroughly firm and workmanlike seat. Nothing shakes 

 the beginner so quickly and so thoroughly down into his 

 saddle. As a groundwork for beginners there is nothing 

 like "up stirrups." I do not advocate the doing away with 

 these aids entirely, for without them no one can, in our 

 saddles or in any other that I know of, ride to the best 

 advantage ; but to give the tyro grip with balance they, in 

 the A B C of equitation, should be left in the saddle-room. 

 When the cavalry recruit is first allowed these luxuries they 

 are invariably a hole or two longer than they will be 

 eventually fitted, so that his dependence on them as " hold- 

 fasts " may be Hmited, and that he may bring every muscle 

 into play to secure his equilibrium. No man can lay valid 

 claim to the title of horseman till he feels himself thoroughly 

 at home in the saddle under all emergencies without 

 stirrups. 



We take it for granted that the pupil, by close attention 

 to the instruction he has already received, and by constant 

 practice, has acquired a close, strong, and flexible seat, and 

 that, together with grip and balance he has, to some extent, 

 mastered the " aids," the action of hands and legs being 

 simultaneous. Without stirrups the trot is the most difiicult 

 of all paces. The position of the body of the rider, with or 

 without stirrups, must be precisely the same, the toes raised 

 and the feet nearly parallel to the body of the horse. There 



