I02 HORSES 



I have not yet ever purchased myself any of the 

 many patent safety-stirrups, but nevertheless I think 

 they are excellent inventions, and no doubt lessen 

 the risk of being hung up. To have a fall and to 

 find your foot fast in the stirrup is a very unpleasant 

 experience. I think perhaps it is the most dan- 

 gerous position in which you can be placed by 

 riding over fences, and anything that can minimise 

 the risk is worth consideration. Here again the 

 importance of holding on to the reins is manifest, 

 for as long as you clutch them you can stop your 

 horse from going far. When a man gets hung up 

 by the foot and loses his hold of the reins, if the 

 horse is the quicker to rise and moves on, he is 

 left in a very helpless position, for no exertion on 

 his part can set him free. The horse then gets 

 frightened at the dangling human form and gallops 

 away, kicking as he goes. 



A horrible situation to contemplate, but one which 

 you need not think about, if you take proper care. 

 The foot will seldom stick fast if you use big, heavy 

 stirrup-irons,^ and spurs with only moderately long 

 necks. I believe, in the majority of cases where 

 people get hung up, the long spur is responsible. 

 Sometimes it gets caught in the stirrup-leather, 

 sometimes under the saddle-flap on the opposite 

 side to which you fall, and occasionally it becomes 



' V 1 Through using stirrup-irons too small for me, I was once dragged, 

 after a fall, for upwards of a hundred yards. I had the presence of 

 mind to keep hold of the reins, and this probably saved me from having 

 my brains kicked out. — Ed. 



