Horses and Horsemastership, 



placed on the bracket on which the stirrup leather 53 

 suspended, well into the armpit, the arm being fully 

 extended. This length will be found a suitable and 

 comfortable one for a. man of average build. But my 

 advice is to have your stirrups as long as possible con- 

 sistent with comfort and a correct seat. If they are too 

 long, "fork-riding" will result, and the heels will be up 

 instead of down. If you have them too short, the legs 

 become too much bent, the muscles cramped, and 

 ■■ stirrup riding" (i.e., an undue pressure and dependence 

 upon the stirrups) follows. The ball of the foot should 

 barely ?'esf, as it were, upon the stirrup. This is a 

 point which usually bothers the novice considerably, for 

 until the instinctive contraction of the muscles of the 

 calves of the legs and ankles is overcome, one or both of 

 the stirrups will be occasionally lost, or else they will 

 slip under the instep, a position which, while right 

 enough in the hunting field, is incorrect from a military 

 point of view, except when practising jumping, which 

 is dealt with further on. 



With regard to the legs from the knee downwards, 

 the knee itself should, of course, grip the saddle, and 

 should on no account be allowed to wobble about. I 

 have heard it stated that a man should be able to ride 

 for a considerable time with a sixpence between each 

 knee and the saddle, and I believe it. Certainly it is a 

 eood idea to bear in mind. 



