MOUNTING HORSE FOR FIRST TIME. 223 



has shown his perfect tolerance of the assistant keeping 

 his foot in the stirrup and the hands respectively on the 

 saddle and mane, while he hops round on one foot, the 

 assistant may raise himself up, so as to stand by means 

 of the left foot in the left stirrup, and his weight to a 

 certain extent on his hands. The next step will be 

 to bring his right leg over, and take up the right stirrup 

 with his right foot. While all this is being done, the 

 breaker, who has hold of the leading rein, should keep the 

 horse circling round, so that the animal may not get the 

 chance of resisting. I may point out that when fixed up 

 in this manner, the horse's " defence," if rebelliously 

 inclined, will be to throw himself down to the off side, 

 either forwards, sideways, or backwards. Such an accident 

 should not happen once in five hundred times, if the pre- 

 liminary work has been properly carried out, and if the ' 

 horse has been rightly fixed up. The assistant, however, 

 should be ready to jump off to the near side in case such 

 an untoward event takes place. If the horse happens to 

 come down in the manner described, the cord connecting 

 his head and tail should be loosened out, the animal made 

 to get up, and the gear re-adjusted, or further discipline 

 employed, as circumstances may demand, before recom- 

 mencing the mounting lesson. A very efficient method of 

 reducing to obedience horses which deliberately throw 

 themselves down when secured in the way in question, is 

 to keep them on the ground, tied head and tail (see 

 page 181), until they have given up all idea of resistance. 



When the horse has got accustomed to the presence and 

 weight of a man in the saddle, the rider may touch him 



