THE GALLOP. 79 



rising ground ; through heavy ground he will ease him and 

 pull him together, but he must come fast and straight 

 down every declivity. I learnt this when hog-hunting on 

 the low rocky mimosa-covered hills of the Deccan, when he 

 who hesitated was lost, so far as first spear was concerned. 

 At the gallop, both hands must be on the reins : the rider 

 need not follow any prescribed rule in the matter of holding 

 them, so long as he keeps his hands low. 



Though I do not advocate men as a rule riding like 

 jockeys, />. standing in their stirrups, still that position un- 

 doubtedly eases both man and horse. The long stirrup 

 leather does well when the ground is not broken, but when 

 uneven surfaces, such as ridge and furrow, water meadows, 

 and among ant-hills, the leathers must be shortened a hole or 

 two. There are degrees of raising oneself in the stirrups \ it 

 cannot well be underdone, and is very commonly overdone. 

 All that is required is that the weight should be taken off the 

 seat and cantle of the saddle, so that the loins and propellers 

 may have full scope for unhampered action. If the reader will 

 compare the long easy seats of some of our crack jockeys — 

 men jockeys, such as Tom Cannon, Webb,Watts and others — ■ 

 and those of the " dolls," who usurp all the cream of the riding, 

 to the detriment of the turf and the horses, he will see what 

 I mean. These men do not get their backs up like angry 

 cats, do not display a lot of daylight, and do not keep their 

 seats off the saddle by holding on by the reins. When a 

 horse is going over broken ground he must, of necessity, to 

 accommodate himself to its inequalities, shorten or lengthen 

 his stride. In such case the rider, then requiring all the 

 hands nature and art has given him, must sit down in the 

 saddle, allowing the horse, as much as possible, full liberty of 

 fore hand, so as to measure his own distance. 



