1^0 



time to rise to the steps of a horse. Illustrative of 

 this, the writer quite recently had the pleasure of 

 meeting an old friend who drilled for eleven con- 

 secutive years in a crack regiment of mounted infantry 

 (the ** Border Mounted," now disbanded) and who 

 has steered more than one steeplechaser to victory, 

 and yet confessed his entire ignorance of any such 

 peculiarity in the action of the horse. It is a difficult 

 matter to understand, because both sides of the horse 

 being identical the natural inference is that his side 

 action will be equal. This, however, is not so, which 

 can easily be discovered by trying to rise to both 

 steps of the horse. The one is always much rougher 

 than the other, and for grace and ease the rider should 

 always select the smoother one. It is a sure indica- 

 tion of a bad rider when too much daylight is seen 

 between him and the saddle when posting, although 

 this will necessarily be governed in some degree by 

 the smooth or rough action of the horse. A horse 

 with wide front action is generally very rough to 

 ride as the play of his legs causes a corresponding 

 motion all over his shoulders the influence of which 

 affects the rider very directly. 



HOW TO RIDE A HORSE AT A CANTER. 



When cantering, the rider should sit well back 

 in the saddle, and if the horse lead off with his near 

 foot, which is generally the easier motion, he should 

 take the reins in his left hand ; but if he lead off with 

 the off foot the reins should be taken in the right 



