134 Modern Riding and Horse Education 



say that no beginner can keep his stirrups. The ad- 

 vent of, or rather the return to, the hunting seat, has 

 done away with the necessity for straightening the 

 leg, and the retention of stirrups is now a matter of 

 no difficulty. Another reason given by the non- 

 stirrup school was that the leg never straightened 

 sufficiently if the pupil was allowed stirrups. At the 

 risk of beating a dead horse I must again say that I 

 think their anxiety was unfounded; many officers 

 and men who had ridden before joining the Service 

 learned the old straight-legged seat quickly enough 

 in the riding school, and it cannot be doubted that 

 most of them — and I include myself — had been 

 taught at home with stirrups. 



Hayes and Dwyer advise stirrups to prevent 

 the leg from straightening; they evidently had not 

 studied the reliefs in the British Museum represent- 

 ing horsemen on Assyrian battlefields, or this view 

 of the matter would not have caused them any 

 anxiety, as there were no irons in those days. The 

 make and shape of the rider and the way he is taught 

 have more to do with the ultimate height of his knee 

 in the saddle than any stirrup. 



Quite lately I was discussing the subject of stir- 



