RIDING S'J 



threefold purpose of keeping him from 

 getting a sideways seat, of teaching him 

 to handle his reins and whip in either 

 hand, and from flying about twenty 

 yards over his horse's head, as he must 

 otherwise have done. By degrees he 

 got to take hold occasionally, only at 

 big places and low drops, and as he 

 got older and stronger he left off alto- 

 gether. Never teach or allow your boy 

 to take hold of his saddle in front 

 under any pretence whatever. 



Make a boy ride alternate days or 

 alternate weeks with the whip in reverse 

 hands. Later on, in riding nappy or 

 one-sided horses, or perhaps in finish- 

 ing a race, he should not experience any 

 more inconvenience from using his w^hip 

 in one hand than the other. When a 

 horse has a fixed determination to go 

 to the left, and his owner wishes him to 



