RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



Horses low In the withers, and strong behind the 

 saddle, particularly if inclined to " catch hold " a 

 little, require in all cases rather shorter stirrups 

 than their easier and truer-shaped stable-com- 

 panions ; nay, the varying roundness of barrel at 

 different stages of condition affects the attitude of 

 a rider, and most of us must have remarked, as 

 horse and master get finer drawn towards the 

 spring, how we let out the stirrups in proportion 

 as we take in waistbelt and saddle-girths. Men 

 rode well nevertheless, witness the Elgin Marbles, 

 before the invention of this invaluable aid to 

 horsemanship ; and no equestrian can be con- 

 sidered perfect who is unable in a plunge or leap 

 to stick on his horse bare-backed. Every boy 

 should be taught to ride without stirrups, but not 

 till he is tall and strong enough to grasp his pony 

 firmly between his knees. A child of six or seven 

 might injure itself in the effort, and ten, or eleven, 

 is an early age enough for our young gentlemen 

 to be initiated into the subtleties of the art. My 

 own idea is that he should begin without reins, so 

 as to acquire a seat totally independent of his 

 hands, and should never be trusted with a bridle 

 till it is perfectly immaterial to him whether he 

 has hold of it or not. Neither should it be 

 restored, after his stirrups have been taken away, 

 till he has again proved himself independent of its 

 support. When he has learned to canter round 



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