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the saddle ; nor should the latter dismount until the 

 colt has been brought to a standstill. Mounting and 

 dismounting when a horse is in action may be clever 

 equestrian feats in the circus, but they are generally 

 indicative of bad horsemanship on the road or in the 

 field. In the hunting field, a horse that is restive on 

 being mounted or dismounted is a veritable nuisance, 

 as all men who are experienced in hunting can testify. 

 A horse of this kind will bound forward as soon as 

 the foot is inserted in the stirrup, and, if tightly 

 confined by the head, he will circle wildly round, 

 which renders mounting next to impossible. Of 

 course, some animals are possessed naturally of ex- 

 citable temperaments, and it is not to be expected 

 that absolute steadiness can be procured in them, 

 still, patient and firm treatment will go a long way 

 towards modifying extremes. Prevention is better 

 than cure ; it is easier for a colt to learn a good habit 

 than to unlearn a bad one, therefore time expended 

 in his early tuition is not wasted, because it may be 

 more than recovered in the future behaviour of the 

 horse. 



FLIES. 



Horses of peculiarly excitable temperament, and 

 possessing thin skins, sometimes become practically 

 unmanageable in consequence of the irritation caused 

 by flies. They have been known to throw themselves 

 down, bolt, and otherwise lose control of themselves 

 when persistently annoyed by flies. Although this 



