THE LENGTH OF THE STIRRUP 21 



making a big effort, the rider feels as if he were 

 throwing the bottom part of his leg right back. 

 As a matter of fact, he does not throw them any 

 further back than the sketch demonstrates. But as 

 the inclination of the horse's body is upward, it 

 feels as if one were throwing the heel back very 

 much further than one really is ; and in doing so, 

 it is of frequent occurrence to find that the stirrup 

 has slipped on to the fore part of the foot, as, 

 indeed, it must do unless it is kept " home " by 

 a slight depression of the ball of the foot. It is 

 also not an uncommon experience to lose the stirrup 

 altogether on landing. This is, of course, due to the 

 angle of descent, and when it occurs it demon- 

 strates that the rider has been riding a little too 

 long. If he rode a little shorter the principle 

 would, naturally, be the same, but it would bring 

 the knee a little more forward in the saddle, so 

 that at the moment of which I am speaking, the 

 stirrup would not slip right off the foot, although 

 the tendency for it to get a little forward would 

 still exist. 



If we now turn once more to sketch No. 2, we 

 see the rider riding at the proper length for what 

 the horse is doing at the moment, i. e. trotting. 

 But supposing the horse were to shy or suddenly 

 jump into the air, then the rider would find himself 

 riding too long ; but fortunately these surprises are 

 not of very frequent occurrence, and we can afford 

 to risk them when we are riding a trained horse. 

 But should he be riding a young horse that might 

 do anything at any moment, then he should 



