LEARNING TO FALL 



must be sent either on to his head or shoulder, and 

 rarely ever land on his feet, the irons on English 

 saddles being placed so far forward. 



I would recommend those who, having attained 

 middle age, are desirous of learning how to fall safely, 

 to always use stirrup-leathers of a medium length and 

 suited to the shape of the horse they may be riding, to 

 have the stirrup-irons made small enough to avoid the 

 chance of the feet going too lar through the irons, 

 and to see that there is no possibility of the spur-strap 

 catching in the iron above the instep. Then, with 

 attention to these particulars, a balance which has been 

 induced by practice, grip from knee and thigh, body 

 inclining backward, natural resource, and an eye quick 

 to detect the negotiable part of a fence (what is 

 commonly termed ' an eye for a country '), broken 

 bones will but rarely accompany a fall. 



Many a man comes to terrible grief in a tiying 

 country from riding too short ; for when a fall takes 

 place he cannot (as I have remarked) have time to free 

 his feet from the stirrups, but is thrown on to his head 

 or shoulder, and is not infrequently hung up by the 

 stirrup until too late to free himself from the falling 

 horse. When stirrup-leathers are of a medium, com- 

 fortable length, the feet come out at once, and instead 

 of the legs being cramped up, a man in falling will 

 more generally land on his feet instead of on his 

 head, and after his feet are freed from the stirrups, the 

 pace will serve to swing him away from the falling 

 horse ; but if he is at all held by the stirrup, be it but 

 for a second, the chances are that he may fall under- 

 neath his horse. The heavier the rider, the greater is 

 the necessity that his weight should be placed correctly 



