462 RIDING DIFFICULT HORSES. 



her, so I was able to remain, but that down hill 

 ridge and furrow performance was extremely hard 

 to sit. Like most young animals, she hated ridge 

 and furrow, and her temper was upset on finding 

 that she had to gallop down hill over this trouble- 

 some ground. The necessity of devoting careful 

 attention to the soundness of the girth-tugs, stirrup- 

 leather, and balance-strap when riding a horse which 

 is likely to buck is obvious, for of course if they 

 give way under the strain, no lady would be able to 

 retain her seat. 



REARING. 



Rearing is the worst of all vices in a horse which 

 has to carry a side-saddle, because a lady, by 

 reason of her side position and her inability to 

 lower her hands to the same extent as a man, is 

 utterly powerless on a rearer. I have seen men 

 slip off over the animal's tail, when he was standing 

 on his hind legs, but this is a feat which a woman 

 is unable to accomplish, as I found when a horse 

 reared and came over with me at Tientsin in China, 

 and hurt my spine so much that I felt its effects 

 for several years afterwards, especially after a hard 

 day's hunting, or a long swim. Swimming appears 

 to tax the soundness of the spinal bones quite as 

 much as does riding. The best thing to do with 

 a rearer is to prevent him from fixing his hind 

 legs, which he would have to do before he can 

 get up, and therefore a long whip should be used, 

 and the animal touched with it as near the hocks 



