96 HORSES 



first lessons, and the beginner should learn there to 

 sit a horse without reins. It is of the utmost im- 

 portance that a boy or man should get into the 

 habit of balancing himself without the aid of reins. 

 If all riders were made to go through a course of 

 lessons on horseback without reins we should have 

 many better horsemen, and the poor animals w^ould 

 not be tortured in the way they frequently are. 



Some people are quick to learn, and others are 

 equally slow, but it is in the power of every one to 

 acquire a safe and firm seat if they will only take 

 the trouble. 



A graceful seat is always a question of taste or 

 opinion, and it is one to which the object should 

 never give a thought. I do not mean to infer 

 that a graceful horseman is not pleasanter to look 

 upon than an awkward one, but the man himself 

 must never consider his riding from that point of 

 view. All he has to learn is first of all to acquire 

 a firm seat, and then with increasing confidence 

 the position may become easy, but he must leave 

 the outward appearance of his riding capabilities to 

 be judged by others, and nothing he can do in that 

 direction is likely to affect their decision. 



A really easy and graceful style is seldom 

 acquired by any one who has not begun to ride in 

 early life, but that need never bother you, as you 

 will get on the back of the horse for your own 

 pleasure and not for that of onlookers. 



Those who have not ridden much would hardly 

 believe the faculty a horse has of understanding the 



