54 HORSEMANSHIP. 



grasp will not be so great, and in any sudden con- 

 cussion, he will be the more readily unseated. It is 

 good practice to continue to alter the stirrup-leathers, 

 as the limbs become fatigued. The horseman may 

 stand in his stirrups at speed, as he ascends rising 

 ground; but, generally speaking, he should sit well 

 down in the saddle, having the sole of the stirrup-iron 

 well under the sole of the foot. He ought to be 

 quite at his ease, and flexible in every joint and move- 

 ment, depending more upon his balance and tenacity of 

 grasp, than upon his foot-hold of the stirrup. If he 

 will trust too much upon the strength of the stirrup- 

 leathers, he may have serious cause to rue it. It is 

 an error to suppose, that by so doing he will possess 

 the greater power to prevent his horse from falling. 

 The horse is properly urged to recover himself by the 

 judicious aids of hand, legs, and spurs, and not by the 

 application of brute force. There is no human power 

 that can be placed upon the back of the horse, which 

 can uphold him from falling, when the aids of horse- 

 manship fail to excite him. 



The bridle hand should be perfectly supple, and 

 sensible to the slightest touch. The rider must take 

 every opportunitj^ to ease it from its duties, so that 



