110 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



the animal, without choking, carry his head in a de- 

 sirable position. The gi'oom is less to blame than 

 yourself for suffering it. Rider (I will not say horseman) 

 and horse are at variance all the day, both are sufficiently 

 uneasy, and when the latter is condemned as a pig-headed 

 brute, how might the observation reflect upon the 

 former ? See that your girths, without being too loose, 

 are not too tight. With a breast-plate, a saddle remains 

 in its place with slacker girths than without, and there 

 are very few horses that do not require a breast-plate, 

 especially where there are any hills. 



Ride easily to yourself, and you will sit easiest to 

 your horse. There is no rule for short or long stirrups, 

 for richng quite home, up to the instep, or on the ball, or 

 even at the toe of the foot. There have been, and are, 

 riders of equal distinction, differing, in these respects, 

 as to their seats. Whether you sit firmly by gripe or 

 by balance does not signify ; but the latter is the most 

 graceful, and a combination of both the most desirable. 

 A jockey- seat, with the foot well home in the stirrup, is 

 most commonly adopted, and appears the best for work 

 across country ; but, if I am to mention the most per- 

 fect and accompHshed horseman of the day, and may be 

 pardoned the use of any name, I must quote that of 

 Colonel G. Greenwood, without fear of one dissentient 

 voice. With a mihtary seat, I have seen him conduct 

 young and unmade horses over a country in a manner 



