MOUNTING HORSE FOR FIRST TIME. 205 



page 325) that the horse will not resent his sides being 

 touched with the heels of the rider later on. When we 

 think that the animal is fully under control, we should get 

 an assistant, while standing on, say, the near side, to catch 

 hold of the mane about half way up the crest with his left 

 hand, the stirrup-iron with his right hand, and go through 

 the various stages of mounting, beginning with putting his 

 left foot in the stirrup (see Fig. 102), catching the pommel 

 or cantle of the saddle, as he sees fit, with the right hand, 



Fig. 101. Horse ready to be mounted for first time. 



and hopping round on the right foot, while we keep the 

 horse revolving by means of the leading rein. The Aus- 

 tralian rough-riders, who are marvellously expert at 

 getting up on difficult horses, place the right hand on 

 the pommel of the saddle, and not on the cantle, as is 

 usually the practice in England and Ireland, and conse- 

 quently put the left hand high up on the neck, and thereby 

 keep their hands well separated, so as to preserve their 

 balance when mounting. When the horse has shown his 

 perfect tolerance of the assistant keeping his foot in the 

 stirrup and the hands respectively on the saddle and mane, 



