94 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



able to rise snappily and easily to the trot, inasmuch as 

 she is deprived of the action of the knee and the up- 

 ward pressure of the ankle joint, and is, therefore, apt 

 to push forward on the stirrup at each rise, producing 

 an ugly pendulum-like swinging of the left leg. This 

 action not only fatigues the horse but is likely to pull 

 the saddle down on the near side and give him a sore 

 back. Moreover, and this is even more to the point, 

 by using too long a leather she deprives herself of the 

 chief support afforded by the leaping head, and thus 

 weakens her grip. No one is a firmer believer than I 

 in the advantages to be derived from learning to ride 

 bareback, and of acquiring the balancing trick, but it 

 goes without saying that for practical work the 

 saddle possesses a distinct superiority over the bare- 

 back seat in nearly every way, and in view of this fact 

 it seems foolish to throw away the advantages of the 

 saddle. It may be all very well to prate about riding 

 entirely by balance, but I am firmly convinced that 

 those riders who claim they do, simply don't realize 

 that in actual practice they do occasionally grip. How 

 many women, for instance, would be willing, in hunt- 

 ing, to dispense with the leaping head altogether, and 

 yet if they never press against it, as they claim, of 

 what use is it? 



In " Riding Recollections" Whyte Melville cleverly 

 settles the question when he says: "Some people tell 

 you they ride by balance, others by grip. I think a 

 man might as well say he played the fiddle by 'finger' 

 or by 'ear.' Surely in either case a combination of 

 both is required to sustain the performance with har- 

 mony and success. The grip preserves the balance, 

 which in turn prevents the grip becoming irksome. 

 To depend on the one alone is to come home very often 



