54 Seats and Saddles. 



— the force coming from this direction will be met 

 more directly and consumed in proportion, that coming 

 from the other being spared. 



The two forces of the hind and fore legs may not be, 

 however, and in many horses, in consequence of want 

 of symmetry, are not, equal in intensity. In untrained 

 horses the}' seldom are. Judicious handling and riding 

 are nothing else, in f^ict, than finding a proper balance 

 of forces, as well for the untrained well-built horse as 

 for one that is defective in symmetry. 



It would carry us too far to go into the detail of the 

 various modes in which the forces exerted by pairs of 

 the hind and fore legs respectively cross each other — as 

 also the centre of gravity itself in walk, trot, canter, etc. 

 The proper methods of shifting the rider's weight from 

 right to left, so as to favor the diagonal action of the 

 pairs of feet, may be easily deduced from the study of 

 these. But it is not our object to write a treatise on 

 equitation ; and for intelligent riders what has been 

 already said will suffice to clear up the doubts that may 

 arise in practice. Indeed the scope of the whole of this 

 chapter has been to set men thinking for themselves 

 instead of working by rule of thumb, and not to dictate 

 atiy particular method to them. 



