2O6 



MOUNTED BREAKING. 



while he hops round on one foot, the assistant may raise 

 himself up, so as to stand by means of the left foot in the 

 left stirrup, with his weight to a certain extent on his hands. 

 The next step will be to bring his right leg over, and take 

 up the right stirrup with his right foot. While all this is 

 being done, the breaker, who has hold of the leading rein, 

 should keep the horse circling round, so that the animal 

 may not get the chance of resisting. When fixed up 

 in this manner, the horse's " defence," if rebelliously 



Fig. 1 02. Mounting horse for first time. 



inclined, will be to throw himself down to the off side, 

 either forwards, sideways, or backwards. Such an accident 

 should not happen once in five hundred times, if the pre- 

 liminary work has been properly carried out, and if the 

 horse has been rightly fixed up. The assistant, however, 

 should be ready to jump off to the near side in case such 

 an untoward event takes place. If the horse happens to 

 come down in the manner described, the cord connecting 

 his head and tail should be loosened out, the animal made 

 to get up, and the gear re-adjusted, or further discipline 



