62 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



carry him across ; whereas, if in approaching it he 

 slackens his speed, nine times out of ten he may safely 

 be booked to be " in" 



MODES OF SWIMMING A HOESE. 



In England, a hunting man, in deference to the ther- 

 mometer and for the love of his clothes, usually avoids 

 forcing his horse to swim. In a warm climate, however, 

 the operation is attended with no danger or inconvenience 

 whatever. In riding gradually into deep water the ani- 

 mal, just before he floats, appears to step rather uneasily, 

 as if on legs of different lengths ; but the instant his feet 

 take leave of the ground, or if at once he plunges out 

 of his depth from a bank, as soon as his head comes up 

 he proceeds as free from jolts of any sort as a balloon in 

 the air, grunting and groaning, nevertheless, heavily, at 

 the injustice of having a man's weight superadded to his 

 own, the specific gravity of which but little exceeds that 

 of the element into which he is striving not to sink. 

 Instinctively, however, adjusting himself to the most fa- 

 vourable position, which throws the hind part of his body 

 about a foot under water, he makes the best of a bad 

 bargain, and then all the rider has to do is not to destroy 



