154 THE HORSE 



precautions should be taken to avoid any contest or 

 scrimmage, the bad effects of which might be lasting. 

 Therefore, if you do not begin in the manner just 

 described, let some one hold the horse while you get 

 on his back, and if he is in the least a fractious or 

 timid animal, there should be a third man to help you 

 in mounting. No doubt you could jump or scramble on 

 without assistance, but the object is not simply to arrive 

 on the back of the horse, but to get there without 

 alarming or exciting him. 



In all cases, it is best, I think, to ride the horse for 

 the first time, or rather to sit on him in the stable, with- 

 out a saddle; or else to saddle the horse first, and lead 

 him about pulling at the stirrups, etc., before you at- 

 tempt to mount. The reason is that the saddle may 

 frighten the horse, and you do not want to give him two 

 scares at once. The creaking of the leather of the 

 saddle when the rider takes his seat terrifies some 

 horses, much more than any other part of the per- 

 formance. Others are frightened or Irritated by the 

 tightening of the girths. The Badminton book on 

 riding says : 



Many a buck-jumper would never have learned the habit, 

 had he been carefully trained to carry a saddle before he was 

 mounted There is nothing more inconvenient than hav- 

 ing a horse that is bad to mount, and, as a general rule, the reason 

 is that the animal was not handled with sufficient care and 

 patience in his first lesson. 



Do not, by yourself, ride the horse out of the stable 

 or other place in which you have mounted, but let your 

 assistant lead him out, and lead him around, you sitting 



