THE GALLOP. 239 



the body tolerably upright in the saddle. The hands must not be 

 too low, but should keep a very gentle but constant pressure upon 

 the bit, and should, if there is the slightest tendency to drop the 

 canter, rouse the mouth by a very slight reminder, and also stimu- 

 late the spirits by the voice or whip. 



THE GALLOP being generally, though not always, his fastest 

 pace, the horse may be forced into it readily enough by the stimu- 

 lus of the voice, whip, or spurs. Sometimes very fast trotters can- 

 not gallop so fast as they can trot, but these are rare exceptions, 

 and need not be considered in any other light. It is therefore 

 useless to describe the mode of starting this pace ; but some allu- 

 sion may advantageously be made to the best method of riding it. 

 There are two seats adopted, the ordinary one being to sit down 

 into the saddle and keep as close to it as possible, but another 

 being also practised called standing in the stirrups. The former is 

 the usual seat, and it is only in racing or in the very fast gallop 

 at other times that the latter is adopted. In sitting down the feet 

 may be either resting on the ball of the toe, as in the other paces, 

 or with the stirrup " home" to the boot, as is common in all field- 

 riding. The body is thrown easily and slightly back, the knees 

 take firm hold, the rider being careful not to grip the horse so tight 

 as to distress him, which fault I have known very muscular men 

 often commit. The hands should be low, with sufficient pull at the 

 mouth to restrain, but not to annoy him and make him "fight;" 

 and if he is inclined to get his head down too much, or the re- 

 verse, they must be raised or lowered accordingly. When the 

 standing in the stirrups is to be practised, the weight is thrown 

 upon them, steadying it with the knees and thighs, which should 

 keep firm hold of the saddle. The seat of the body is carried well 

 back, while at the same time the loin is slightly arched; but by 

 this combined action the weight is not hanging over the shoulder 

 of the horse, as it would be, and often is, when the breech is raised 

 from the saddle and brought almost over the pommel, with the 

 eyes of the rider looking down his horse's forehead, or very nearly 

 so. If a jockey of more than seven or eight stone, with a good 

 seat, is watched, it will be seen that his leg does not descend 

 straight from the knee, but that it is slightly thrown back from 

 that line, and consequently that his centre of gravity is behind it, 

 so that he can, by stiffening the joint, carry his body as far behind it 

 as his stirrup is, without ceasing to stand in it. Very light jockeys 

 adopt a somewhat different seat, riding with longer stirrups and 

 throwing their weight greatly on the muscles of the thigh, while 

 they raise the breech entirely from the saddle, but only for a com- 

 paratively small distance. This gives them a strong hold of their 

 horses, without which, being so small, they could not ride them. 

 Standing in the stirrups cannot long be maintained without fatigue 



