192 FIRST LESSONS IN RIDING. 



which should at once be discontinued, for that slip- 

 shod style of trotting is not only incorrect, but is 

 liable to give the horse a sore back, and will prove 

 very tiring to the rider. In making the rise she 

 should straighten her left knee as in mounting, and 

 bear slightly on the stirrup, executing her upward 

 movement by the aid of the ankle-joint and by simul- 

 taneously pressing the upper crutch with her right 

 knee, when she will return to her former position with- 

 out being in any way jerked during the movement. 

 The stirrup should always be kept in one fixed position 

 at the ball of the foot, and both foot and stirrup should 

 act with automatic precision, without the slightest 

 jerk or wriggle, exactly as though the lady were 

 making an upward step from the ground. The 

 pressure of the foot should be directed on the 

 inner side of the stirrup-iron, in order that the 

 leg may lie close to the flap of the saddle. She will 

 not require to lift herself from the saddle, for the 

 horse will put her up to the necessary height, if she 

 straightens her left knee and prepares to rise at the 

 right moment. The height of the rise will vary 

 according to the size and action of the horse. An 

 animal of, say, 15-3, with a long, swinging trot, will 

 cause his rider to rise higher in the saddle than a 

 smaller horse with a short, shuffling gait. Many 

 ponies have a short, quick trot requiring a hardly per- 

 ceptible rise from the rider ; but they are not, as a 

 rule, comfortable trotters. The lady, as I have already 

 remarked, rises when the animal's near fore leg is 



