310 HANDLING AND LEADING HORSES. 



when on the off) down the back of the fore-arm, grasp the 

 leg just above the knee with the fingers and thumb, turn 

 the elbow in, and press it against the upper part of the fore- 

 arm so as to make the animal put the weight on the 

 other leg ; lift up the leg, and catch the foot, when it is 

 high enough, with the other hand. This is a much easier 

 plan than the usual one of catching hold of the pastern, and 

 is certainly safer with strange animals. If a horse is hairy 

 about the fetlocks, the easiest way to lift the leg is by 

 catching hold of the hair of that part. In lifting zip a hind 

 foot of a strange animal, it is usually best to run the hand 

 down the hind quarters ; catch hold of the ham-string (tendo 

 Achillis) ; and seize the pastern backhanded with the other 

 hand. If the animal is "confidential," we may lift a 

 hind leg by running the hand down the limb, and taking 

 hold of the cannon bone with the fingers pointing to the 

 rear. Many badly-trained grooms in England practise the 

 slovenly habit of lifting up either the off fore or the off 

 hind, while standing on the near side of a horse. Such a lazy 

 country-bumpkin proceeding is opposed to one of the first 

 principles of good horsemanship, which enacts that a horse 

 should be the same, as regards mouth and manners, on both 

 sides of his body, which he cannot be, if he is habitually 

 turned, bent and handled only on the near side. In olden 

 days, the custom of mounting from the near side, and of 

 using the left as the bridle-hand became established, 

 because the large majority of riders wore swords, which 

 would get in the way of the horsemen, if the act of 

 mounting was performed from the off side. In civil life we 

 have retained the habit of mounting from the near side ; 

 probably because right-handed people are generally left- 

 footed, in which case it would be easier for them to place the 

 left foot in the stirrup iron, than the right. The picking up 

 of an off foot from the near side is a manifest absurdity ; 



