326 THE HORSE 



accommodate my remarks to all heights and classes. In all cases the rider 

 should stand at the shoulder, though with a short man it is mucli easier to 

 mount a tall horse from the hind-quarter, but the danger of kicking is very- 

 great ; and even in mounting with " a leg," in the jockey style, I have 

 known the thigh very nearly broken by a kick. If the hand can steady the 

 stirrup it should do so, but if the person is too short, the foot can be placed 

 in the stirrup without its aid ; then taking the reins between the fingers, 

 much as directed in the passage already quoted, and grasping a lock of the 

 mane with the finger and thumb, the body is raised till the right foot is 

 brought to a level with the left, when the right hand seizes the cantle, and 

 with the left grasping the pommel, the body is steadied for a short time, 

 which in the ordinary mount is almost impercej^tible, but in a fidgety horse 

 is sometimes of considerable length. T};e leg is now thrown gently over the 

 saddle, and as it reaches the cantle the hand is withdrawn, after which the 

 body sinks into the saddle in an easy and graceful manner. The right foot 

 is then placed in the stirrup, with or without the aid of the right hand 

 holding it. 



Such is the English method. Mr. Rarey and others in opposition to 

 this plan, advise that the right hand and arm shall be thrown over the saddle, 

 the horseman standing with his back to the quarters, and thus incurring the 

 chance of being severely kicked. 



THE SEAT 



The position of the rider in the saddle, called "the seat," admits of 

 several variations according to the purpose to which he is devoted, but it 

 is mainly influenced by the length of the stirrups. In the military style 

 these are so long that the weight of the body is conveyed to the saddle 

 by the inside of the thighs, or '* fork " alone, while in that adopted in the 

 East this part scarcely touches the saddle, and the breech and feet distri- 

 bute the weight between them. Colonel Greenwood, who is the only 

 military writer on horsemanship that can be taken as a guide for the road, 

 tells us — " There is one direction Avhich I think applies to all seats. Turn 

 the thigh from the hip, so as to bring the hollow to the saddle; this 

 places the foot straight to the front, with the heel out and the toe in. 

 Trotting without stirrups on the thigh only, with the heel down and the 

 toe up, shoulders back, a snaffle-rein in each hand like a rough-rider, is 

 the best possible position for sitting." Now the latter part of this is quite 

 true, but the former is not quite consistent with my own experience, for 

 if the short stirrups of the Eastern horsemen are adopted, the hollow of the 

 thigh cannot be brought to the saddle, yet this style he admits is " ad- 

 mirable in its way." Dismissing then the military seat for Avhich Colonel 

 Greenwood's directions may suffice, I may assert that, in the ordinary 

 English style, there are four points necessary to be considered ; namely, 

 (1) the position of the weight, which will be mainly influenced by (2) 

 the position of the knees well forward on the flap, (.3) the proper length 

 of the stirrup-leathers, and (4) the carriage of the body. If the weight is 

 not laid upon the middle of the saddle, which is the axis of the "see- 

 saw " motion made in the gallop, it has to be raised at every stride, uuC 



