46 THE ART OF 



will correspond with the flanks ; in a word, if 

 they are held too short, they would raise you 

 from the saddle, when you would press upon 

 the stirrups. 



The point of the foot ought to be turned a 

 little inwards, a little lower than the heel, 

 without being too much so, and jut out of the 

 stirrup an inch or two at the most ; all the 

 movements of the different parts of the body 

 should be supple, united, and little extended. 

 Put your foot to the ground, according to the 

 same principle, which you observed in mount- 

 ing your horse, and immediately detach the 

 curb. 



The first lessons of equitation should be di- 

 rected to the instructing the scholar to learn 

 to hold himself well upon the saddle, and to 

 maintain himself there, in all the movements 

 which his horse can execute. Nothing is 

 more efficacious to attain that, than the les- 

 son of the trot, because that gait being the one 

 that shakes the rider most, the others are but 

 play after it. 



After having acquired in school this per- 

 pendicular position, and this firmness, of which 

 we have just spoken, you must exercise your* 



