VII] 



RIDING AND SADDLES 



83 



in the latter he will be greatly handicapped in 

 riding across country. For this reason the seat 

 of the military saddle should be made much 

 longer and the arches lower. With a short 

 seat the rider has to lengthen his leg too much ; 

 but the straighter the leg the rounder becomes 

 the inside of the thigh, which should be flat to 

 give the rider the proper position and grip. The 

 grip extends from the top of the leg to the knee, 

 the whole length of the thigh. The calf is only 

 used when giving an indication, called by some 

 an "aid," to the horse, or in an emergency, 

 perhaps. The leg must at all times be free to 

 pivot at the knee to the front or rear, and this is 

 not possible if the rider is holding on by the 

 calf. He should be able to move his leg below 

 the knee almost to any extent without in any 

 way moving any portion of his body above the 

 knee. 



326. If one goes across country bareback, as 

 I often used to for a morning's breeze, one does 

 not sit forward with a straight leg, nor sit with 

 the knees right up on the withers, but assumes, 

 or very soon assumes, a position as in P. 58, 

 because this is the only natural and correct seat 

 whether in a saddle or bareback. 



The calf should be a little behind the per- 

 pendicular, so that the ball of the foot is 

 approximately below the knee ; the legs must 

 not be stuck out like shafts, because in this 

 position the rider can never obtain balance. No 

 weight should be borne on the stirrups ; the 

 rider's weight should be transmitted to the seat 

 of the saddle by the thighs and the buttocks, 

 similar to sitting in a chair. The rider must 

 not lean forward, except when in fast motion or 

 when rising in the stirrups, when the science 

 of mechanics tells us that it is necessary to assist 

 a horse. The arms must be kept low, and the 

 horse ridden with a comparatively long rein, 

 especially when going at a jump. 



The body itself, when a horse is cantering, 

 remains practically vertical, and when going at 

 a jump it should still remain so. While on top 

 of the jump, and when landing on the other 

 side, the body still remains vertical. Leaning 

 back as the horse rises at the jump is the surest 

 way to be jerked off. If anything, a man will 

 assist his balance by leaning slightly forward as 

 the horse rises, but he must keep his seat well 

 against the saddle. Leaning forward too much 

 will throw too much weight on the horse's fore 

 hand. 



327. A rider must not lean back when land- 

 ing over a jump. If a horse is going at fast 

 speed, the rider remains ahead of the vertical 

 all the way over the jump ; were he to lean back 

 he would reduce the horse's speed considerably 

 when the horse landed, owing to the increased 

 moment of inertia that the horse would have to 

 overcome before he could regain his former 

 speed. A flat-race jockey adopts a different seat, 



but such a rider cannot really " ride " his horse 

 except so far as he can control the speed and 

 direction of his mount. He throws his weight 

 forward because thereby, mechanics and practice 

 tell us, the speed of the horse is greatly in- 

 creased. So the broncho-buster sits in an arm- 

 chair type of saddle, known as the stock saddle 

 (P. 74A), several inches above his horse, not with 

 the idea of riding the horse, but with the idea 

 of keeping on his back until he stops buck- 

 ing. For this purpose, and for long journeys at 

 the trot or canter, the stock saddle cannot be 

 beaten. I have spent some long journeys and 

 some lively moments in a stock saddle, and 

 know what little use a hunting saddle would be 

 in Montana, Alberta, and other ranching 

 countries. 



328. I repeat again, that in order to ride a 

 horse a man must have a saddle that allows his 

 seat to be as close to the horse as possible, and 

 that also enables him to sit on his seat gripping 

 with his thighs and knees only, allowing free 

 motion to the lower part of his legs, and permit- 

 ting him to sit at the centre of balance. The 

 hunting saddle is the only one that will allow 

 this. (See P. 74e.) 



The only way to obtain good balance and a 

 good seat, apart from the natural gift that 

 Nature has bestowed upon us, is to ride without 

 reins and without stirrups for a considerable 

 time. Perfect balance while jumping will 

 readily be obtained by being taught to jump 

 without reins. I have found with various 

 pupils to whom I have taught riding and jump- 

 ing, that the progress made by forbidding the 

 use of reins, once confidence has been gained, 

 until the rider can go over a fairly stiff jump 

 with hands folded without in any way losing 

 his seat, is far and away more rapid than the 

 old method of allowing the rider to ruin his 

 own hands and spoil his horse's mouth by using 

 reins ; and, of course, by the former method 

 hands are improved, balance is rapidly obtained 

 and kept, and the horse's mouth is not only 

 spared, but probably improved. 



329. After confidence has once been gained 

 which, by the way, is an important point I 

 make my pupils give up reins and stirrups for. 

 perhaps, as long as two or three months, and 

 ride in a large school or enclosed manege. The 

 reins can be left knotted on the horse's neck, 

 so that in an emergency they can be taken up. 

 By this method I have made many bad jumpers 

 have a moderately good seat within a week, and 

 such people have declared that their change has 

 surprised them immensely. It is only common 

 sense after all. 



To allow a beginner or a recruit to jump a 

 horse with reins is downright cruelty besides 

 being very foolish, because it ruins the horse. 

 It is easy to discover horses that have been 

 ridden in this way by merely taking them once 



