THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 307 



support of his horse. The spine or back-bone of the 

 jockey must always be prepared to bend in the middle; 

 since in the horse's running there is a necessity foi 

 some inclination of the body forward. The true seat 

 is naturally easy and upright in the saddle as in a 

 chair ; the knees about as much bent ; the legs falling 

 nearly straight down the horse's side, and the feet 

 home in the stirrups ; the hands somewhat above the 

 pommel of the saddle, elbows close to the sides, and 

 the view directed between the horse's ears. Jockey- 

 riding is in truth something between sitting and 

 kneeling ; and the length which a man rides should 

 be so regulated, that he may be as it were buoyant in 

 the stirrups, without being so much elevated above 

 the saddle as to depend upon the bridle for his sup- 

 port ; at the same time he must not ride so long as to 

 sit a dead weight upon his horse. A man who rides 

 too short, and is elevated too much above the saddle, 

 must naturally have a vacillating and uncertain seat. 

 Of late years, and since the military mania has be- 

 witched our countr}', the riding-house mode of no 

 more than the toe or ball of the foot in the stirrup, 

 has prevailed to a considerable degree. We have seen 

 directions too of late, in print, for the jockey to turn 

 his toe in, and his heels out, a-la-militaire, as though, 

 like Cockney riders, it were apprehended he could 

 not otherwise keep his spurs out of the horse's sides ; 

 a groundless apprehension in a well-seated jockey, 

 who, of the two, will find the greatest difficulty in 

 reaching his horse's sides with his spurs. 



Chifney recommends riding a racer with a slack 

 rein: but surely it is necessar}^ in most cases, to hold 

 a horse sufficiently close to keep him together and 

 steady ; nor can you otherwise regulate the speed of a 

 horse to make the most of him. Fairly pulling at a 



