THE SEAT AND BALANCE. 49 



described, subject to occasional variations, will be 

 found, by experience, to be the most natural and 

 graceful mode of sitting a horse : — it is easy to the 

 rider and her steed ; and enables the former to govern 

 the actions of the latter so effectually, in all ordinary 

 cases, as to produce that harmony of motion, which is 

 so much and so deservedly admired. 



The balance is conducive to the ease, elegance, and 

 security of the rider : — it consists in a foreknowledge 

 of the direction which any given motion of the horse 

 will impart to the body, and a ready adaptation of the 

 whole frame to the proper position, before the animal 

 has completed his change of attitude or action ; — it is 

 that disposition of the person, in accordance with the 

 movements of the horse, which prevents it from an 

 undue inclination, forward or backward, to the right 

 or to the left. 



By the direction and motion of the horse's legs 

 the balance is governed. If the animal be either 

 standing still, or merely walking straight-forward, the 

 body should be preserved in the simple position which 

 we have directed the lady to assume on taking her 

 seat. Should it be necessary to apply the whip, so as 

 to make the animal quicken his pace, or to pull liim in 

 suddenly, the body must be prepared to accommodate 

 itself to the animal's change of action. When going 

 round a comer at a brisk pace, or riding in a circle, the 

 body should lean back rather more than in the walking 



D 



