The Seat. 27 



nary equestrian creed, a complete heretic. I 

 am utterly unable to understand why different 

 positions on horseback should be adopted by 

 different descriptions of horsemen. Every 

 horseman,, I humbly conceive, wishes to be as 

 firm and as easy in his saddle as he possibly 

 can. If one position of the legs is found the 

 most effectual for this purpose by the jockey, 

 why should another be found more so by the 

 dragoon ? or how can we persuade ourselves 

 that an attitude, which would be insecure if 

 the horse were to charge an ox-fence, is 

 secure when he is charging a square or a 

 battery ? 



The oldfashioned military and the old- 

 fashioned hunting seats were both, in my 

 opinion, more or less mistakes. In the for- 

 mer the thighs were stretched almost verti- 

 cally downwards, so that it became impos- 

 sible to grasp the saddle below the knee. 

 In the latter they were raised almost horizon- 

 tally forwards, so that it became impossible to 

 grasp the saddle above the knee. In both, 

 therefore, the position of the rider was mate- 

 rially less secure than it would have been if 

 they had been allowed to lie in their natural 



