48 Modern Riding and Horse Education 



Some devotees of the straight-legged seat have 

 v^ritten that man should ride by balance, and I have 

 met Boers who used no girths, but this practice 

 and the other comfortable theory v^^ould break dov^n 

 were jumping to be undertaken, or the riding of 

 anything but a well-trained horse on the flat, who 

 would be sure not to make what some writers term 

 " reactions." Under any more strenuous conditions 

 the rider cannot poise his body to balance it unless 

 the knees are firm on the saddle. 



For instructional purposes the principle of bal- 

 ance on horseback should be considered under three 

 aspects : the first when the horse is advancing in a 

 straight line; the second when he inclines his body 

 inwards in the act of turning — the degree of inclina- 

 tion being determined by the pace at which he is 

 traveling ; and the third when the horse is jumping. 



In the first case, all the rider has to be taught to 

 do in the initial stages is to sit in an easy position 

 with his seat well under him in the center of the sad- 

 dle, and to look between the horse's ears. In this and 

 in the third aspects the security of the rider's seat 

 depends on the application of his weight with refer- 

 ence to the perpendicular; at very fast paces the 



