50 RIDING. 



steed by patting, or, in riding-school language, " mak- 

 ing much of him," taking up the reins with a very- 

 light hand, and giving him his head ; whereas a man 

 usually does the very reverse ; he takes a commanding 

 hold of the reins, presses his legs into the horse as the 

 signal for motion, perhaps with a rasp of both spurs 

 into his sides, indicating no great amiability of temper 

 — a state of things very likely to be reciprocated by a 

 high-spirited horse. 



As before observed, every man ought himself to be 

 able to judge whether his horse is properly saddled and 

 bridled. I must still inveigh against misplacement of 

 the saddle, which grooms, it will be remarked, usually 

 place too far forward — a mistake which is of more con- 

 sequence than is generally considered. 



Take a dragoon, for instance, weighing, with arms, 

 accoutrements, and kit, from fifteen to twenty stone ; 

 this weight, if allowed to fall unduly on the fore 

 quarter, must help to founder the charger, and bring 

 him into trouble on the first provocation. Let him 

 make the least stumble, and the weight of his burden, 

 instead of being back in its proper place, with the 

 man's assistance there to help him up, is thrown for- 

 ward, keeping the beast tied down, and preventing his 

 rising. But, taking appearances into consideration, 

 the forward placement of the saddle is most ungraceful, 

 reminding one of the position of an Eastern driving an 

 elephant, seated on his bearer's neck. 



I have seen the tout ensemble of a magnificent cavalry 

 regiment strikingly deteriorated by the ungraceful and 

 absolutely unhorsemanlike misplacement of the saddles, 

 and consequently of the men — though the military 

 regulation on the subject is fair enough, directing a 



