XIII 



SADDLE WITH STIRRUPS v. NUMNAH 



"They (the stirrups) are a great easement to the rider, by support- 

 ing the toe, and prevent the dangling of the legs. They are an 

 assistance, because the rider can preserve his balance with less 

 attention." Adams. 



^Tp^HERE are two distinct schools of thought on 

 this subject. Up to 1820 none of the best 

 authorities, as far as I can gather, ever advocated 

 that the beginner should have stirrups, though the 

 practice was common amongst civilian riding mas- 

 ters. The lad who was taught with a view to going 

 to hounds probably commenced his lessons with stir- 

 rups, but he learnt under no recognized teacher of 

 what was then called " riding," a term which no ex- 

 ponent of Haute Ecole would have applied to the 

 performance of the hunting man proper. It was, in 

 fact, the distrust and contempt so long subsisting 

 between the two schools which stultified the riding 

 of the British nation in the last century. 



Fillis and Baucher (circa 1850) shared the old- 

 J31 



