THE POSITION OF THE BODY 69 



in a wonderfully short space of time. But first and 

 foremost his conformation must be right ; that is 

 to say, he must be able to balance himself well. A 

 man who skates well, for example, could soon be 

 made a horseman. Some men who have long 

 backs in proportion to the rest of their bodies, for 

 example, start riding under a considerable dis- 

 advantage. In order to counteract the length of 

 their body above the saddle, they will find it neces- 

 sary to ride rather long. By riding long, they 

 cannot maintain a true balance in the saddle, and 

 so they are between " the devil and the deep sea." 

 But given a naturally well-balanced body, I do not 

 think the mysteries of horsemanship are nearly so 

 obscure as many people believe. 



It seems to me that the difficulties have always 

 lain in the past by teaching the young idea to have 

 his body back, and I submit to my readers the 

 contention that if they will reverse that instruction 

 and teach body forward, they will find most of 

 their perplexities will fade away, and that their 

 pupils will tumble to the idea as easily as ducks to 

 water. 



I will now ask my readers to look back to the 

 copy of the photograph on page 4, and to make 

 their own criticisms. 



