UNSTEADINESS WHILE BEING MOUNTED. 219 



UNSTEADINESS WHILE BEING MOUNTED. 



When this merely amounts to eagerness to start — very un- 

 pleasant, indeed, at times, for many a rider has been thrown 

 from his seat before he was fairly fixed in it — it may be reme- 

 died by an active and good horseman. It oftentimes happens 

 that while the elderly, inactive, and fearful man is engaged in 

 making more than one ineffectual attempt to vault into the 

 saddle, the horse is dancing about to his annoyance and danger; 

 but no sooner is the animal transferred to the management of a 

 younger and more agile rider, than he becomes perfectly sub- 

 dued. Severity will here, more decidedly than in any other 

 case, do harm. The rider should be fearless ; he should care- 

 lessly and confidentially approach the horse, mount at the first 

 effort, and then restrain him for a while ; patting him, and 

 not allowing him to proceed until he becomes perfectly quiet. 

 Horses of this kind should not be too highly fed, and should 

 have sufficient daily exercise. 



When the difficulty of mounting arises, not from eagerness 

 to start, but from unwillingness to be ridden, the sooner that 

 horse is disposed of the better. He may be conquered by a 

 skillful and determined horseman ; but even he will not succeed 

 without frequent and dangerous contests that will mar all the 

 pleasures of the ride. 



