HORSEMANSHIP 115 



six inches higher than the other. If possible, 

 too, the rider should get a groom to hold the 

 off-stirrup while he is mounting, so as to 

 counterbalance his weight and avoid the risk 

 of pulling a loosely-girthed saddle round. He 

 should also take care that his boots are not so 

 wide as to become inextricably fixed in the 

 irons; and, to prevent such a contretemps, his 

 boots and, if necessary, his feet, should be 

 planed down to the required size by the nearest 

 cobbler or chiropodist. 



When actually ready to mount his horse, the 

 sportsman should place the animal in such a 

 position that its off-side is close to a wall or 

 tree, so as to make it almost impossible for it 

 to back away from him. Otherwise it may 

 often happen that the foolish creature has con- 

 ceived so violent a prejudice against its prospec- 

 tive rider as to feel impelled to turn round and 

 round as soon as ever he puts his foot in the 

 stirrup, thus forcing him to hop round after it 

 in a vertiginous and extremely undignified 

 fashion. My uncle. Lord Porpentine — " Squir- 

 rel " Porpentine, as he was familiarly called — 

 once hopped after his horse in this way for 

 nearly an hour and a half before he was able to 

 vault into the saddle. At the end of that time, 

 the pedometer which he always carried in his 

 pocket marked a distance of seven miles, and 



