"CRANING" FORWARD. 241 



unduly bend or "crane" forward. Hence, the instant 

 this sign becomes apparent either to learner or teacher, 

 the lesson should be discontinued, or the pace, if that 

 was the cause of the nervousness, should be decreased 

 as might be required. This " funky " seat on horseback 

 looks bad, is particularly unsafe, and is hard to correct 

 when once acquired. 



In riding up to a fence the lady should in no way 

 alter her position, but should merely grip'the crutches 

 firmly, while keeping her body perfectly lissom, with 

 her head and shoulders slightly back. Many persons 

 have a notion that the proper way to sit over all jumps 

 is to bend forward when the animal is rising, and to 

 lean back when he is descending. This is quite wrong ; 

 for, as the horse, before propelling himself forward and 

 upward by his hind legs, has to raise his forehand oft 

 the ground by the straightening out of one or both of 

 his fore legs, it is evident that it would be inadvisable 

 to put any additional weight, at that moment, on the 

 forehand. As most persons have a natural tendency to 

 bend forward too much when going at a fence, I have 

 advised the rider to bring her head and shoulders a 

 little back, just sufficient to correct such a tendency. 

 When a horse is in the act of taking off at a standing- 

 jump, the rider should lean forward, and bring her head 

 and shoulders back, when he is landing. It is always 

 sound practice to lean well back when landing over 

 a fence, so as to take the weight off the horse's fore 

 legs as much as possible. An experienced rider solves 

 all these problems automatically. 



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