152 ENGLAND'S HORSES, 



in our day to effect, without in the least degree interfering with 

 the main hne of attachment to the saddle, extending down the 

 entire length of the limb. By the simple movement above de- 

 scribed, the balanced horseman sails erect over the highest leaps 

 in an easy curve, corresponding with that described by his horse's 

 centre of gravity, to which his knees and thighs attach him, but 

 wholly unaffected by the violent motion of the hind quarters, out 

 of the influence of which he has thus raised the only portion of 

 his person liable to such disturbance. 



On the contrary, the oblique seat exposes the rider at every 

 leap, and indeed at every pace, to a tilt from behind, which he can 

 only avoid by the awkward expedient of throwiug his trunk and 

 shoulders so far back as to shift his seat forward out of the way of 

 the visitation ; a sudden grip with the calves of his legs being the 

 only substitute left for the proper attachment of the thighs, which 

 is necessarily broken up and neutralized by the movement. 



It is true this seat of balance is not to be obtained but by pains 

 and practice. The sitting posture^ to which we are habituated, 

 inclines the limbs to a wholly different arrangement from that to 

 which we must conform them in the saddle ; the hips and 

 haunches, not so much used in other exercises, must be handy, 

 flexible, and obedient ; the feet must be used in a posture directl}'- 

 opposite to that taught by the dancing-master. Presence of mind, 

 so little called for in ordinary walks of life (but which is in itself 

 a necessary attendant on the position of equilibrium), must be 

 cultivated and established ; a daring confidence in the power of 

 balance to carry the rider through anything, and over anything, 

 that his horse can pass, must be so implanted in the mind, and 

 become the fundamental principle of the pupil, to such an extent, 

 that there will be no room for hesitation or doubt, should a 

 moment of difficulty arise. In a word, the rider, as well as the 

 horse, must go through his proper course of training; or that of 

 the animal, in the first instance, will have been of no avail. 



Is it not strange that with so many difficulties on every hand, 

 with so much to be acquired, and so much to be forgotten, horse- 

 manship, of all the other exercises to make a fully accomplished 



