82 Horses and Horsemastership, 



The point of the knee should be turned as much 

 towards the saddle as possible ; this facilitates keeping 

 the toes turned in, which is most desirable. 



The heels should be let well down, and the calves of 

 the legs should be close to the horse's sides, for nothing 

 looks worse than the legs stuck outwards from the knees. 

 It is a bad habit, and consequently an easily cultivated 

 one. 



3. THE HANDS. 



Bad hands are the cause of more accidents than any- 

 thing else I know of. A man may have a secure seat, 

 he may have perfect control of his legs, but unless he 

 has o^ood hands his chances of comino- to grief are never 

 remote ; and yet how few riding-masters pay any serious 

 attention to this most important matter I The horse's 

 mouth is naturally sensitive, and I have over and over 

 again come across men with quite excellent seats who 

 could do practically nothing \vith certain horses, simply 

 because they lacked that '" light and even feeling" which 

 goes so far towards making things comfortable for the 

 horse, and consequently for his rider. 



I once owned a horse which before I bought him was 

 regarded as a bolter, and he certainly did bolt on a few 

 occasions after I had him, but never with me. The sole 

 cause of his bolting was ''bad hands." He was a high- 

 couraged, almost thoroughbred animal, and so long as 



