SEAT. IO5 



I have already protested against the solecism of saving 

 yourself by the bridle. It is better, if you must have 

 assistance, to follow the example of two or three 

 notoriously fine riders and grasp the cantle of the saddle 

 at the risk of breaking its tree. But in my humble 

 opinion it is not well to be in the wrong even with Plato, 

 and, notwithstanding these high authorities, we must 

 consider such habits, however convenient on occasion, as 

 errors in horsemanship. To a good rider the saddle 

 ought to be a place of security as easy as an armchair. 



I have heard it asserted, usually by persons of lean 

 and wiry frames, that with short legs and round thighs, 

 it is impossible to acquire a firm seat on horseback ; but 

 in this, as in. most matters of skill, I believe' nature can 

 be rendered obedient to education. Few men are so 

 clumsily shaped but that they may learn to become 

 strong and skilful riders if they will adopt a good 

 system, and from the first resolve to sit in the right 

 place ; this, I think, should be in the very middle of the 

 saddle, while bending the small of the back inwards, so 

 that the weight of the body rests on that part of a 

 horse's spine immediately behind his withers, under 

 which his fore feet are placed, and on which, it has been 

 ascertained, he can bear the heaviest load. When the 

 animal stands perfectly still, or when it is extended at 



