25 8 GUIDANCE AND CONTROL. 



SWIMMING A HORSE. 



The rider should take the feet out of the stirrups, leave 

 the reins slack, and lay hold of the mane. Or he may get 

 off the saddle and hold on by the pommel or by the mane 

 with one hand, while he tries with the other hand to guide 

 the horse, when necessary, by feeling the reins lightly on one 

 side, or slightly splashing him with water on the other side. 

 Or he may hold on by the tail. 



PICKING UP OBJECTS FROM THE GROUND WHEN ON 

 HORSEBACK. 



If, when on horseback, we wish to pick up without dis- 

 mounting, an object such as a whip or pocket-handkerchief, 

 say, with the left hand, we may do so, by catching a good 

 hold of the mane with the right hand ; taking the right foot 

 out of the stirrup ; bending over to the near side, so as 

 to catch the off side of the cantle with the right heel ; 

 and by the aid thus afforded, pick up the object. It is almost 

 needless to say that the horse employed should be particularly 

 steady. 



Another and easier method which is specially applicable 

 to a horse or pony that has had its mane clipped off, is to 

 take with the right hand a back-handed hold of the right 

 stirrup leather (Fig. 204), after having removed the right 

 foot out of its iron, and then to reach down and pick up the 

 object with the left hand (Fig. 205). The body can easily 

 be drawn back into the saddle by means of the grip the 

 right hand has on the off stirrup leather. To perform this 

 feat with safety, it is necessary to have the horse tightly 

 girthed up. With both these methods, the reins should in 

 the first instance be passed into the right hand and drawn up 

 to the required length. 



