44 RIDING AN"D TRAINING SADDLE-HORSES. 



on the ability to handle the weight of the person with 

 the arms, and will need a little practice, which may as 

 well be taken on a wooden horse or a bar, fastened five 

 feet from the ground, a little higher after this has be- 

 come easy. In short, make it easy to get into this ele- 

 vated position, and to feel unrestrained while in it. 

 Next, learn to get the control of your right leg, so that 

 it becomes natural and easy to throw it over the horse's 

 croup with a bold swing, not poking it over knee fore- 

 most, and to carry it so high that there is no danger of 

 touching his hips with the toe, nor of scraping his flank 

 with the spur, as the foot descends. Keep up the alter- 

 nate motions of throwing the leg over the saddle, and of 

 returning again to the erect position, until you can 

 arrest the movement at any point, and have such perfect 

 command of the weight that you can be sure of getting 

 lightly into the saddle under all circumstances. This 

 knack, once acquired, will never be lost, and you may be 

 sure of mounting any horse, except a bad rearer, on 

 whose neck and saddle you can lay your hands ; that 

 much accomplished, you are sure of him, and you can 

 safely dismount by reversing the movements, in spite of 

 his efforts to give you a fall. 



While this vaulting is a very valuable knack to possess, 

 the ordinary steady, sober citizen whom we are address- 

 ing, will usually wish to mount with the stirrup. It is 

 curious to see what different ways different people adopt 

 to do so simple a thing. Some practice the old military 

 system : standing at the side of the horse's neck, face to 

 the rear, with the left hand holding the reins and a lock 

 of the mane, they hold the stirrup with the right hand. 



