88 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



jerkily or stiffly to and fro, nor yet be held haughtily 

 in the air as if the rider were entirely unconcerned as 

 to how her horse is proceeding. Crocking the head 

 forward, as if one were suffering from a broken neck, 

 is a bad habit acquired by many of our best show- 

 riders, and presumably is caused by bending forward 

 too much, to observe closely the gaits of their mounts. 



The shoulders should be held easily and fairly well 

 back, and quite level (the right one is apt to be in- 

 clined a little higher than the left), and the elbows 

 should be held naturally at the sides, neither pulled in, 

 as if cramped, nor poked out affectedly at right angles, 

 nor yet flapping up and down with each motion of the 

 horse. 



A good rider should rest most of her weight in the 

 saddle on the right thigh instead of on the stirrup foot. 

 It is the preponderance of weight on the near side, 

 which, in the case of poor riders, causes the saddle to 

 drag down and rub the horse's withers or back-bone, 

 and thus gives rise to the idea that all side-saddles 

 tend to give horses a sore back. 



The next thing to note is that the rider should sit 

 well into the saddle, pressing the right leg down from 

 the hip to the knee, otherwise, were she on accasion 

 to grip the pommel, there would be a space between it 

 and her knee which would render her seat most 

 insecure. 



The rider's right leg should hang easily over the 

 pommel (see illustration, Figs. 1 and 2) and flat against 

 the flap of the saddle, in the position that it assumes 

 most naturally. It should neither be poked out in front 

 (see illustration, Fig. 3), which is a very common fault 

 among beginners, and which renders the seat insecure 

 and makes the habit ride up, nor should it be hooked 



