THE POSITION OF THE BODY 61 



horse in the mouth. By leaning back he has 

 depressed the hind quarters, by jabbing he has 

 raised the forehand, so that we arrive at an exactly 

 converse result than that which should be obtained 

 in true horsemanship. The rule for which is that 

 directly a horse takes off, his head should always 

 be free, and that the body should be forward. 

 Head free, loins free, are the key words. 



As I have said, I do not exclude steeple chasing. 

 Take up any picture paper during the racing 

 season, and see what extraordinary positions the 

 jockeys get themselves into. 



Sketch No. 14 shows the most usual position. 

 It is not exaggerated, as I am sure my readers will 

 admit. And that any man who aspires to be an 

 expert rider should get into such positions shows 

 that we are still a long way from the '' path of 

 grace." 



Not only do they get themselves into this posi- 

 tion when landing, but also before the horse has 

 commenced to turn. They lean back when ap- 

 proaching the fence, and having got themselves 

 into this initially wrong position, it is impossible 

 to rectify it after the horse has taken off, because 

 they are " behind their w^ork " from the beginning. 

 It is like a man leaning back in the tube just as the 

 train is about to start. He would in such a case 

 have to hang on pretty hard to the straps to prevent 

 falling, but no whit harder than he does on to the 

 reins to avert a similar disaster when riding. 



Sketch No. 17 shows the position. Here the 

 jockey is '' strap-hanging" with a vengeance, and 



