HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP. 15 



When an unmounted horse stumbles, nature teaches him to 

 drop his head and neck ; philosophy teaches us the reason of 

 it. During the instant that his head and neck are dropping, 

 the shoulders are relieved from their weight, and that is the 

 instant that the horse makes his effort to recover himself. If, 

 by giving him pain in his mouth, you force him to raise his 

 head and neck instead of sinking them, his shoulders will 

 still remain encumbered with the weight of them : — more than 

 this, as action and reaction are equal and in opposite direc- 

 tions, the muscular power employed to raise the head and 

 neck, will act to sink his knees. 



The mechanical impossibility of the rider assisting his horse 

 when falling may be demonstrated thus : — No motion can be 

 given to a body without a foreign force, or a foreign fulcrum. 

 Your strength is not a foreign force, since it is employed 

 entirely on the horse ; nor can it be employed on the foreign 

 V^ fulcrum, the ground, through the medium of your reins. As 

 much as you pull up, so much will you pull down. If a man 



