CHAPTER VIII. 47 



more than to run up. As for the fears that 

 some folks feel of dislocating the horse's 

 shoulders in riding down hill, they should 

 take courage from the knowledge that the 

 horses of the Persians and Odrysians/s all of 

 whom habitually run their races down hill, 

 are not a bit less sound than Greek horses. 



I shall not omit to tell how the rider him- 

 self ought to conform to all these movements. 

 When the horse bolts suddenly off, the rider 

 should lean forward, for then the horse would 

 be less likely to draw in under the rider and 

 jolt him up ; but he should bend back when 

 the horse is being brought to a poise, as he 

 would then be less jolted. In leaping a ditch 

 or running up hill, it is not a bad thing to lay 

 hold of the mane,^*" so that the horse may not 

 be troubled by the bit and the ground at the 

 same time. Going down a steep place, the 

 rider should throw himself well back, and 

 support the horse by the bit, so that rider 

 and horse may not be carried headlong down 

 the hill. 



It is well that the rides should be in dif- 

 ferent directions occasionally, and that they 

 should be sometimes long and sometimes 



