304 BESTIVENESS : ITS PBEVENTION AND CUBE. 



when his own centres of gravity and motion fall in the 

 same perpendicular line with the horse's centre of motion, 

 otherwise he will have to contend with the centrifugal 

 motion by dint of muscular exertion alone. 



Now, for a man standing upright, the centre of gravity 

 is in the perpendicular from the base of the skull, and 

 the centre of motion is at the point where this line 

 intersects a horizontal line drawn through both hip- joints. 

 If the rider sits upright, on his " triangle " (as explained 

 above), and in the middle of his saddle, this being in 

 the right place, his legs will, unless the stirrups obstruct, 

 come of themselves into such a position that his own 

 centres of gravity and motion will be directly over and 

 very close to the centre of motion of the horse. What 

 Englishmen are pleased to call " a stuck-up seat " may 

 be the result, perhaps, especially if the rider be awkward ; 

 but it is not a question of taste or fashion, but of 

 attaining certain definite objects which remain otherwise 

 unattainable ; for no one will pretend that the position 

 assumed by the hunting man for the purpose of making 

 his horse throw its weight on the fore legs, with its 

 head and neck well down and extended, can also serve 

 the exactly opposite purpose we have in view in the 

 correction of vicious animals. 



A word with regard to the whip and its use will not 

 be out of place. The effect of this instrument depends 

 altogether on the part of the horse's body to which it 

 is applied, and the way in which it is used. One or two 

 strokes given at the proper moment, and in the right 

 place, will sometimes work wonders, whilst a severe 

 flogging almost always does mischief. It has been 

 pointed out that, in lounging, the whip may be made to 

 do the work which the rider does with his legs and 



