RIDING AND TRAINING. 39 



man's skill or courage, that he will take measures 

 for putting the horse in an obedient frame of mind 

 before he undertakes to control it with bit and spur ; 

 on the contrary, it is a humane and sensible action, 

 in accord with the better methods of training by 

 which everything that would frighten or annoy the 

 horse, from the time the halter is first placed upon 

 its head, is avoided. 



Mounting. It is possible that the first misconduct 

 upon the part of the fresh horse will be an effort 

 to prevent the rider mounting, either by rushing 

 forward, or, what is worse, by running backwards, 

 perhaps to throw itself against a wall. In the first 

 case it would be well for the horse to be held in the 

 cavesson by an attendant until the rider is in the 

 seat. Should the animal evince a disposition to go 

 backwards and some will do this with a violence 

 that makes it very dangerous to the rider the 

 horse should be started in a walk, and the man 

 should mount while the horse is going forward. In 

 this way I have seen those excellent horsemen, 

 William and George Burgess of H arrogate, defeat 

 the purposes of a vicious mare that had severely 

 injured several persons who had attempted to mount 

 it. But if the rider can vault into the saddle he will 

 find no difficulty in mounting any animal upon which 

 he can place his hands. 



