HINTS ON RIDING 95 



with a dirty coat, to cling wholly by the other is to 

 court as much fatigue in a day as ought to serve for a 

 week. . . . Grace is, after all, but the result of re- 

 pressed strength. The loose and easy seat that seems 

 to sway so carelessly with every motion, can tighten 

 itself by instinct to the compression of a vice, and the 

 'prettiest' rider, as they say in Ireland, is probably 

 the one whom a kicker or buck- jumper would find the 

 most difficult to dislodge." 



To obtain the ideal combination of suppleness and 

 relaxed muscles above the waist, with occasional grip 

 below the waist, I personally am quite convinced that 

 the medium length of leather is the correct one, for 

 either man or woman. I do not recommend this sim- 

 ply because it is a style that I affect myself, for no in- 

 telligent horseman or horsewoman would advocate a 

 method merely because it is their own. I recommend 

 it because it is a method that is good both in theory 

 and in practice. 



In a side-saddle this happy combination of balance 

 and grip is best achieved by a leather just long enough 

 to allow putting the flat of one's hand between the 

 left knee and the leaping head.* (See illustration, 

 Fig. 1.) For quiet riding about, or for showing a 

 hack, it may, if desired, be lengthened as many holes 

 as will best suit the animal's gaitf (see illustration, 

 Fig. 2); but for general use — for hunting, jumping, or 

 for riding rough horses — the medium length is the best. 



* The correct length of the leather should always be gauged by this 

 relation of the rider's leg to the leaping head, and not by any fixed "hole" 

 in the leather. For, on a wide-girthed horse, a leather in exactly the 

 same hole would, in reality, be shorter than the same leather on a 

 narrow-girthed horse. 



t As a general rule a horse with a quick, trappy gait does not require 

 as short a leather in order to rise comfortably as an animal with a 

 long stride. 



