SEAT ON A HORSE. 37 



druped, by throwing all his legs forwards and his body 

 backwards, has the power to adjust himself, with mathe- 

 matical precision, to almost any descent. 



To insure his safety, however, it is essential that he 

 should be encouraged, by a loose rein, to carry his head 

 as low as possible, to enable him to take care of his feet, 

 and in case of treading on a rolling-stone to recover his 

 balance by throwing it up. Now. when in this position, 

 if the rider, following the instinct and the example of 

 the horse, throws his weight backwards in fact, if from 

 the saddle the backs of the two animals are separated 

 from each other by only a very small angle, both can 

 descend the hill together at considerable speed without 

 the smallest danger. The only embarrassment the rider 

 has to contend against is an over-caution on the part of 

 the horse, amounting to fear, which induces him to try 

 to take the slope diagonally, very likely to result in 

 the poor animal slipping up on his side. In keeping 

 his head straight, however, care must be taken not to 

 induce him to raise it up; and when this little diffi- 

 culty is overcome, no other of any sort or kind remains 

 to impede a safe and rapid descent. 



Seated on his saddle, in the attitude we have de- 

 scribed, that admirable rider Jack Shirley, whipper-in 

 to the Tedworth hunt, with a large open clasp-knife 

 in his mouth, was one day observed fixing a piece of 



