COLONIAL RIDING 159 



man, other methods have to be adopted to deal 

 with this particular matter, which, although not 

 in accordance with the best traditions of horse- 

 manship, have been accepted as expedients. The 

 colonial saddle has usually a high pommel upon 

 which the end of the lasso is wound. Some of 

 them have also a high cantle, like a military- 

 saddle, and some have very large rolls which not 

 only cover the knee, but also part of the thigh, 

 and there is also a roll behind the thigh, so that 

 the rider is firmly fixed in the saddle. With 

 saddles such as these, the buck-jumper can be 

 mastered with comparative ease. The knees are 

 pressed up under the rolls, and the rider occasionally 

 also holds on to a "monkey" fixed on to the 

 pommel. The reins are not bothered about. The 

 horse has his head completely, and can go where 

 he will. The only object of the rider is to stick 

 on and hold on. 



The only point that is of interest from the 

 scientific point of view is the question of the 

 length of stirrup. It may be urged that if the 

 principles that have been disclosed in the pre- 

 ceding articles are correct, it would be necessary 

 to ride buck-jumpers with a very short stirrup, 

 while, actually, they ride very long. But the 

 reason for this is not difficult to explain. The 

 force exercised by the horse is, in this case, not 

 nearly so much of a forward action as upward. 

 I used the simile of a man standing in a railway 

 truck, in my second chapter, showing how in order 

 to anticipate a sudden increase of speed in the 



