22 THE SEAT. 



his left knee against the saddle-flap. If the horse should 

 be alarmed or unsteady, he must immediately come to the 

 ground with the right foot, and endeavour to appease him 

 by patting him on the ribs and quarters, and then try him 

 again. If he is now steady, the right hand is to be shifted 

 from the cantle to the pommel, or forepart of the saddle, 

 the right leg passed clear over the horse's quarters, and the 

 right knee closed on the saddle, the body lowered gently 

 into the seat, and the stirrup taken with the right foot, and 

 a snaffle rein between the third and little fingers of each 

 hand, the spare end of the reins lying upon the second 

 joint of the forefingers, with the thumbs firmly on them, 

 and the hand closed. 



The soldier mounts in seven motions, four in preparing 

 to mount, and three in mounting ; but these instructions 

 being intended for general use, I do not mention them 

 more particularly. 



The Seat. 



To be properly seated, the rider should feel himself well 

 down, properly balanced, and perfectly upright in the 

 middle of his saddle, but without stiffness : his body and 

 head easy and square to the front, neither leaning forward 

 nor backward, the shoulders well thrown back, the chest 

 raised, and the small part of the back bent in ; by these 

 means, he will force himself well down into the middle of 

 his saddle, and as it were, ride entirely by equilibrium. 

 The arm from the shoulder to the elbow must hang easy, 

 with the thick part of it just below the elbow, lightly 

 touching the hip bone ; the lower part of the arm should 

 then be raised until the little finger of each hand is as high 

 and in a line with the elbow joint, the wrist slightly curved 

 with the knuckles to the front, the thumbs pointing directly 



