266 



The Book of the Horse. 



children, well balanced, sit with their faces in the direction tliat the pony moves. The back 

 of the pannier should be high, and stuffed like the back of a carriage, to support the backs 

 and heads of the children, when tired, in an easy position. 



If a pony is used for carrying panniers, in all cases flap-reins (see illustration next page) should 

 be fitted to the bridle ; and so buckled as to restrain it from increasing its pace beyond a 

 walk, or from the effects of a sudden ebullition of high spirits. Donkeys do not require 

 such precautions. 



For instructions as to leading-stick and reins, page 221 may be consulted. Neat leading- reins 



PAD FOR A CHILD. 



LEADING STICK, 



for pannier ponies may be made from the white cords sometimes used for pillar-reins. The 

 Dutch make some extremely neat black hemp driving-reins, so rounded as to be convenient 

 for the soft hands of women. 



PONY RIDING. 



There are boys on farms and in mansions where the stable is always full and the stable 

 door always open, who from their earliest years cannot be kept from riding, or trying to ride, 

 every four-footed creature they come across. They mount the big house-dog, and get many 

 falls in experiments on the docility of pigs, calves, and goats. They make friends with the 

 grooms, and while still in short petticoats are lost by the nursemaid, and found sitting on the 

 back or rather neck of some steady old nag in his stall, while Robert the strapper hisses away 

 at polishing harness or boots, A little later they ride one of the plough teams as they slouch 

 slowly home, and take unlawful possession of that useful slave the famil\' donkey. 



