t I 



harnessing.) Hackney cruppers are considered unsightly, 

 and have been frequently the cause of sore places about the 

 region of the dock. The necessity for the crupper is 

 invariably more the fault of the rider than the horse ; a 

 good rider never shows his stockings, but it is frequently 

 the case that many whose daily business it is to sit upon 

 a horse are frequently to be seen with their trousers up to 

 their knees ; such are the rollicking horsemen that require 

 cruppers, trouser straps, and frequently tying or holding 

 on. In riding, or attempting to ride, the old rule is 

 *' To look before you leap," and the real horseman says 

 " Keep close to the pigskin," hence the term " daylight" 

 between saddle and man, therefore it is equally important 

 the saddle should fit the horseman as well as the horse. 



The first business of the amateur is to learn to 

 exercise patience ere he can excel as an equestrian ; next, 

 never to start until he is ready, (which rule applies to 

 everything through life) and to avoid flourishing or 

 irritating the horse. This advice v/as given the author 

 by an old Balaclava Veteran, with the reminder — " Put a 

 beggar on horseback, &c." The writer thinks that 

 nothing looks so thoroughly ridiculous as the back view 

 of a full-grown, green amateur, who appears mounted for 

 the first time trotting through the most public streets, 

 specially got up with frock coat and button-hole, patent 

 leathershoes, and stirrups too short, a bran new saddle 

 and bridle, and himself hanging on by the spurs, his 

 elbows elevated, and shoulders up, as though endeavouring 

 to overtake the horse or imitate the monkey. Such is 

 the picture often to be seen at holiday and other times of 

 the ambitious green-horn, who, at an advanced age, and 

 without any preparatory lessons or practice, vaults into the 

 saddle. It is not the forte of all men to excel in horse- 

 manship, and the author has frequently met, and knows 



■g — - ;*> 



i I 



