CONTENTS 



Page 

 Introduction 9 



J CHAPTER I. 



-*-* IV -J 



How to approach a horse Bridling Saddling Mounting 



Dismounting An episode near Lake Tahoe 11 



V CHAPTER II. 



X* 



Balance How to keep it Experience with bucking horses 

 Correct length of stirrup Grip How it counteracts 

 inertia European cavalry 'man's experiment Seat 

 What it means in the saddle "The End of x the Trail." 19 



CHAPTER III. 



How the rider controls his horse Bits, and how they work 

 The Martingale Spurs Whips Balance How to 

 start and stop a horse How to make a horse slide 

 Backing a horse Changing direction Changing leads 

 at a gallop Teaching the horse to trot and to walk 

 Riding without reins 26 



CHAPTER IV. 



Reining a horse Use of different bits How his mouth is 

 made The natural gaits The walk, the trot and the 

 canter Natural gaits more useful than acquired gaits 

 Popularity of five-gaited horses for show purposes 

 Jumping and swimming 34 



CHAPTER V. 



Riding up and down hill or on a pavement The right and 

 wrong ways of doing so Xenophon's comments about 

 ancient hill riders Opening a gate when on horseback 

 -Talking to horses Efficacy of a well-spoken word 

 The art of falling off How best to escape injury A 

 midnight runaway and a drop in the darkness 42 



CHAPTER VI. 



Racing and race horses Early training Reasons for the 

 light bit and the short stirrup Use and misuse of the 

 whip in racing Horse show ethics Looks are every- 

 thing Satisfy the judge Importance of etiquette 

 Polo ponies They just happen and are not bred 

 Difficulty of finding them Amenities of the polo pony 

 trade What constitutes a perfect polo pony 50 



