458 RIDING DIFFICULT HORSES. 



especially thoroughbreds, can give a very fair imitation 

 of this foreign equine accomplishment. I remember 

 riding a steeple-chase horse called Emigrant, which 

 placed quite enough strain both on me and my girths 

 when he was first called upon to carry a side-saddle. If a 

 horse has any buck in him, the side-saddle will be almost 

 certain to bring it out ; for with it the animal requires 

 to be girthed up extra tightly ; the balance strap 

 " tickles and revolts " him, the lady's weight is farther 

 back than on a man's saddle, and the unusual feeling 

 of carrying a rider whose legs are placed on one side, 

 tends to irritate a highly sensitive horse. If an animal, 

 on being saddled, gets his "back up," he should not 

 be mounted until this certain indication of the buck 

 that is in him has been removed, which may be done by 

 either circling him with the long reins, or letting a 

 groom run him about a little until his back goes dow^n. 

 A cold saddle and a chilly day will often cause a horse 

 to come out of his stable with his back in bucking posi- 

 tion, and, unless a lady knows her animal well, it is best 

 to get it down before she mounts, because he may buck 

 as she is in the act of placing her right leg over the 

 crutch — a part of mounting which animals that are 

 unaccustomed to it greatly dislike, as, I suppose, they 

 think she is going to give them a kick on the head ! 



As I used to do the rough-riding for my husband on 

 his horse-breaking tours in various countries, I have had 

 to sit a good many buck-jumpers, and, am thankful to 

 say, I never got thrown, because, from what I have seen 

 of men being catapulted and placed on the Hat of their 



