18 HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP. 



you pull at the mouth the better ; for the more you pull, 

 the less you are at liberty to throw back your weight. But, 

 in truth, it is of no advantage to throw back the weight, when 

 the stumble is made. If a position be previously taken up on 

 the croupe of a horse, the pressure will be less upon the fore- 

 hand than if you were placed in a forward position. But 

 during the time that the position is in the act of being shifted ; 

 that is, during the time that the horse is falling, the act of 

 throwing your own weight backward, produces an exactly 

 equivalent pressure forward ; in all respects the counterpart 

 of your own motion backward, in intensity and duration. 

 It is useless to dwell on this subject, or to adduce the familiar 

 illustrations that it admits of. It is a simple proposition of 

 mechanical equilibrium, and any one who is conversant with 

 such subjects will assent to it. 



The question whether a jockey can mechanically assist 

 his horse, does not rest on the same footing. I believe 

 he can. Thus: — If a man sits astride a chair, with his 



