130 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



fait in the stop. It is of far orreater importance than may 

 be usually imagined. In the tirst place, it shows the horse 

 to be well under command, especially when the rider is able 

 to do so instantaneously ; it saves, in the second place, many 

 serious and inevitable accidents from carriages, horsemen, 

 etc., such as crossing before, suddenly pulling up, turning 

 quickly round a corner, or coming unawares upon the rider. 



" Care must be taken to make the stop steadily, not by a 

 sudden jerk upon the bit; by doing so, the horse, if 'tender 

 mouthed,' will be made to rear and plunge. To make the 

 horse stop properly, the t)ridle hand must be kept low and 

 the knuckles turned down. The rider's body must be well 

 thrown back ; he must have a steady feeling of both reins, 

 and closing both legs for a moment, so keep his horse well 

 up to hand. The rider's hands always must be eased as 

 soon as halted." 



As to Seat on Horseback. — With the haute ecole, as our 

 neighbours call the teaching of horses to astonish the 

 beholders by capricoles, demivoltes, lifting their feet in a 

 manner to render them useless and unserviceable, and other 

 tricks of the circus, we have naught here to do, confining 

 ourselves to the modern English school of riding. 



It is easy to discover the riders who have been taught in 

 a good school by their firm, graceful, and uniform position in 

 the saddle, and by their ready and skilful application of the 

 bridle, hands, and legs; such being indispensable to the 

 skilful guidance and control of the horse. 



It will not be necessary here to describe the marked 

 characteristics exhibited by the jockey, the huntsman, the 

 whipper-in, the groom, the postboy, the soldier, the dealer's 

 lad, and the butcher. These have all different seats on 

 horseback, each best adapted to their several occupations ; 

 for the man who all his life is accustomed to one particular 

 style of riding and to one particular kind of horse will 

 aclopt a natural style, which marks the whole class of those 

 adopting it. 



In acquiring a good seat, there are four things necessary 

 to be attended to — first, the position of the weight, so as to 

 be sufficiently forward in the saddle ; sec«idly, the fixing 

 of the knees on the padded part of the flap ; thirdly, the 

 proper length and position of the stirrups ; and fourthly, 

 the carriage of the body. 



The weight of the body should be well forward, because 



