"RIDING HOME" 269 



As you perceive, from this man's seat, a spur would be 

 of no use to him, and a decided irritation to his well-man- 

 nered mount ; for an Arab of the peo])le can no more 

 forego the luxury of beating time on his horse's ribs than 

 an Indian. Even when riding Avith counterless slippers 

 and without stirrups, he manages to keep up the swinging 

 of his legs, and yet he never loses a slipper. An occa- 

 sional stirrup is made with a sharp point on the inside to 

 use in lieu of a spur on the heel. This wide, flat stirrup 

 is not uncomfortable. It is curved upward, and affords a 

 means of resting the foot b}' constant change of position. 

 The Arab usually thrusts his foot home in it. In fact, 

 nearly all hoi'semen do " ride home." The cowboy, unless 

 he has them hooded, wears the big wooden stirrups against 

 his ankle. Our trooper, with the hooded stirrup, cannot 

 thrust his foot beyond the point where his toe touches the 

 hood ; but if perchance he has a pair of hoodless w^ooden 

 stirrups he is apt to get his foot well in. It is a natural 

 thing to do, and all natural riders do it. The military man 

 who uses a brass stirrup, and the riding -school man or 

 those who take him as a model, are the only ones wiio 

 hold the stirrup under the toe or the ball of the foot. 



