HANDS AND HEELS 97 



chase with the thigh, the inside of the knee, and when he 

 closes his legs, as he must in the ranks, with the upper 

 part of the calf. It is in accordance with the old saw of 

 " 'ands and 'eels low, 'ead and 'eart 'igh," under which so 

 many splendid horsemen have grown up— except that his 

 bridle hand is raised by the blanket roll or carbine. He 

 seems to be sitting, as he faces us, in just the style he ought 

 not to sit. No one but a Mexican or the ghost of a knight 

 in armor rides in this form. It is not unnatural for a man 

 to thrust out his feet as a change of position, but it is the 

 very worst seat in which a man can indulge if he retains 

 it habitually. 



The world seems to be sliding into other notions than 

 it used to have. The 'ands and 'eels low applies to the 

 hands only. The English cross-country rider of to-day 

 has his foot no more than level when at rest, and keeps 

 his toe w^ell down when in motion. This has partly come 

 about from the trick of holding the stirrup in place when 

 leaping, and partly from the fact that the Briton, even 

 after hounds, does not ride with leathers as short as j^ears 

 ago. We used to hear, particularly during our war, many 

 an Old Country man ridicule the American cavalry seat, 

 because our men hang their toes Avhen in the saddle, 

 rather than depress their heels, as her Majesty's troopers 

 and school -riders are supposed to do. In some respects 

 this is not strange, for many an Englishman will, as a 

 matter of habit or of keeping his hand in, criticise every- 

 thing he runs across, whether he knows anything about it 

 or not. It is merely a trick, a sort of weak offshoot of the 

 excellent character which gives him his energy and cour- 

 age and stick-to-ativeness. And the veriest little London 

 cockney, who has never thrown his leg across anything 

 but a broken-down ninepence-an-hour 'Ampstead 'Eath 

 'ack, will undertake to criticise the riding of the cowboy 



