90 Seats and Saddles. 



being constantly transferred from the hind to the fore 

 quarters of the horse. There may be average equi'ib- 

 rium, but it is never per7nane7itly in the right pace, 

 and hence the danger ; for a sudden start or stunible at 

 the moment the rider is in the air is the most common 

 cause of the accidents that occur so frequently. 



Now, in truth, there is no reason why this English 

 system of rising in the stirrups (in trotting) should not 

 be practiced equally well, not to say better, with the 

 stirrup near the middle of the saddle instead of at one 

 end. The difference is this, that a much less amount 

 of rise will suffice, and the seat is, therefore, not only 

 less completely abandoned, but also for a shorter time ; 

 the horse's balance is not destroyed ; and fine bitting 

 may be resorted to.* There is, however, a farther pecu- 

 liarity belonging to this English method that is worth 

 understanding, because the successful trotting of many 

 horses depends on its being so. The " bobber up and 

 iown " rises and falls with each tread of the horse ; 

 the English rider only ivzth the interi7iediate ones: he 

 ilways comes down on his saddle simultaneously with 

 one and the same hind leg : and the consequence is, 

 that in trotting after this fashion one diagonal pair of 

 legs is constantly saved from the recoil, and the other 

 as constantly exposed to it in an aggravated form. 



Every practical rider must have observed that with 

 certain horses there is a difficulty, in starting to trot, in 

 the accommodation of the rider's rise in the stirrups to 

 the first movements : he will have to feel his way, as it 

 were, to the proper leg, and perhaps be obliged to sit 

 out two or three shakes before he can get at it ; for 

 many horses trot unequall)' — that is, take a longer stride 

 with one pair of legs than with the other. The rider 



* The author has done many a mile of hard work in this way in a 

 military saddle with stirrups exactly central ; and ridden to English 

 foxhounds also tolerably well in full military fig in a stiff country. 



