An Improved Method 155 



Constant jumping, which is impossible in the earlier 

 stages without the strap, will answer the purpose 

 and is of greater benefit to the pupil: it is more 

 practical and does not require a specially trained 

 animal. The sauteur is, however, doubtless most 

 useful to the *' Ecuyer," for practising the " cour- 

 bettes," " cabrioles," and " croupades," he has to 

 perform daily on his own horse. At the Fort Riley 

 Mounted Service School (Kansas) the sauteur is 

 used for the practical purpose of teaching the pupil 

 how to sit a buck- jumper. 



The strap further makes it difficult for the novice 

 to lose his stirrups, besides enabling him to retake 

 them quickly after he has been riding without them 

 by order of the instructor. 



During over five years' experience of this con- 

 trivance with all sorts and conditions of men and 

 horses, I have never seen a case of dragging. On 

 one occasion, indeed, I caused an officer's foot to be 

 made fast in the stirrup and had him dragged for 

 experimental purposes, and it did not appear that 

 the strap joining the stirrups increased the danger. 

 As a matter of fact, with stirrups tied together it is 

 impossible to get dragged if hung up in the stirrup 

 on the opposite side to which the fall occurs — a 

 common cause of accidents. Care must, however. 



