332 THE HORSE. 



on the inner side of the bar of the stirrup iron, and the ball of 

 the little toe on the outer side of it. The toe should be perpen- 

 dicularly under the point of the knee ; the heel two inches be- 

 low the toe ; the heel a little out, and the whole leg, from the 

 shank bone to the crotch, as tight to the saddle, as if glued to 

 it ; the buttocks well opened out and down upon the saddle ; 

 the small of the back well in ; the chest expanded, the head 

 erect, the shoulders squared at right angles to the line of the 

 horse's backbone ; the elbows close to the sides, the hands well 

 down, and within an inch or two of the saddlebow. 



It is a good plan, to learn to mount a horse from the front, 

 standing abreast with his fore legs, and with your back to the 

 direction in which he is looking, as a vicious horse cannot kick 

 you in this position. You divide your reins properly in your 

 left hand, grasping with it a lock of hair on the withers, put 

 your left foot into the stirrup exactly as it hangs, square to the 

 saddle, throw your right hand to the cantle of the saddle, and, 

 with a slight spring and rotatory motion of the right leg, you 

 are in the saddle in an instant. 



I will here add, that the measure of the stirrup leather for a 

 well-made man, for an ordinary seat, is the length of his arm, 

 with the fingers extended. If these be set against the bar in 

 the saddle, to which the stirrup leather is secured, the bar of 

 the stirrup iron itself, when the leather is drawn to full stretch, 

 should come well up to the armpit, and touch the body. 



For riding across country, or on hard trotting horses, an inch 

 or two shorter will be advisable. A good test for the length, in 

 such cases, is to be able to place the width of your hand, held 

 edgeways, between your fork and the pommel of your saddle, 

 when standing up in the stirrups. 



The best general rules for riding are these ; keep your head 

 and toes up ; your hands and heels down ; your knees and el- 

 bows in ; your thighs and buttocks close to the saddle. 



I now proceed to give from Harry Hieover's practical 

 horsemanship, the modes by which a man may become a horse- 

 man. 



" There are three modes, by any of which a man may become 

 a horseman. The one is, by putting him on an ass, pony, gallo- 



