174 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



when his horse is at a trot, let him feel both his reins, raise 

 his horse's forehand, and keep his haunches well under 

 him. 



We may note two distinct habits of riding the trotting 

 horse ; one, that of rising in the stirrups — the civilian 

 mode ; two, the military style. The first saves an immense 

 amount of fatigue to the horse, and unpleasantness to his 

 rider. The second is a sacrifice to uniform appearance in a 

 body of horsemen, as the effect of a number of men bobbing 

 up and down synchronously with each horse's step would be 

 something almost ludicrous; for it must be remembered 

 that the man must here take his time from the horse, not 

 the horse from the man. Accordingly, your dragoon 

 bumps away upon his sheepskin as he best can. 



The civilian style is thus carried out. At the very 

 moment when the near fore and ofif hind foot (or vice versa, 

 according to the foot the horse starts with) have struck the 

 ground in their effort to throw the horse forward in his 

 stride, the body of the rider is propelled into the air, by 

 hard and high trotters, to such an extent as to fearfully 

 discompose an entire novice. Having reached the utmost 

 height consequent upon this unpleasant propulsion, down 

 comes the seat, reaching the saddle just in time to catch 

 the next impact, and so on as long as the trot lasts. Now 

 it is by performing each of these motions so as to rise and 

 fall the instant before you are bumped that you ease your- 

 self and assist the animal. In this way the horse absolutely 

 carries no weight at all during half his time, and the 

 action and reaction are of such a nature that the trot is 

 accelerated rather than retarded by the weight. 



No horse can fairly trot above twelve or thirteen miles 

 an hour without this rising, though he may run or pace in 

 the American style ; so that it is not only to save the rider, 

 but also to ease the horse, that this practice has been 

 introduced, and has held its ground in spite of the military 

 sanction. It is here, as with the seat, utility is sacrificed 

 to appearances, and whenever the long and weak seat of 

 tlie barrack-yard supplants the firm seat of the civilian, 

 the rising in the trot may be abandoned, but certainly not 

 till then. The military length is not now what it was 

 thirty years ago, and perhaps some time or other they may 

 adopt the rise. 



In the trot, the foot should bear strongly on the stirrup, 



