lOO Use your Knees. 



should have spring bars, which you should al- 

 ways keep from rusting out of good working or- 

 der. They have saved many a man's collar-bone. 

 Be in the habit of using your knees and thighs 

 alone for grip, though the closer you clasp the 

 saddle without getting your legs around the horse, 

 the better. In the leap, or with a plunging horse, 

 you may use the upper part of the calf, or as 

 much more as your spurs will allow you to use. 

 But of all equestrian horrors the worst is the too 

 common habit of constantly using the calves in- 

 stead of the knees to clasp the saddle-flaps. To 

 such an extent is this often carried by a tyro 

 (and no man gets beyond this stage who does it), 

 that you can see an angle of daylight between 

 the points where his thigh and calf touch the sad- 

 dle, showing that his knee, which ought to be 

 his main and constant hold, does not touch the 

 saddle at all. The stirrup-leathers, especially if 

 heavy, as they should be, often hurt the knee, if 

 you are new to the saddle, and perhaps are the 

 main inducement to this execrable habit. But 

 you must either get your knees hardened, or else 

 give up the saddle. Keep a steady lookout for 

 this. You will never ride if you don't use your 

 knees. If you do use them properly, your feet 

 will look after themselves. Ride with the flat of 

 the thigh and the knee-bone at all times close to 

 the saddle. 



