24 HORSE AND MAN. 



This faulty practice is avoided when the snaffle reins are held 

 one in each hand. We should bear in mind that it is easier 

 to put a beginner into a good position than to rectify a bad 

 seat later on. 



To sum up, I may say that the chief good point about a 

 rider is firmness of seat, which is obtained by a correct 

 position and practice. The rider should have, not merely 

 blind pluck, but self-confidence and coolness, without which 

 he will not be able to utilise the useful things he has learned. 



It is not necessary to know all about horses in order to 

 ride well. I prefer an unscientific man who can stick on 

 any rideable horse, to one who is strong in theory but weak 

 in practice. The purely theoretical man almost always 

 succeeds in making restive horses which he pretends to break 

 in. He may have enough firmness of seat to give the horse 

 an indication to move, but not sufficient to enable him to 

 enforce his orders when the animal " plays up." 



Nothing is worse than to provoke a horse to resistance if 

 the rider has not the pluck to make him give in. 



lady's seat. 



Except as regards the legs, a lady should sit on a saddle 

 exactly like a man. For some time there has been talk of 

 ladies riding astride, which practice would deprive her of all 

 feminine grace, and would afford no useful result. The great 

 want in a man's seat is firmness, which would be still more 

 difficult for a woman to acquire if she rode in a cross-saddle, 

 because her thighs are rounder and weaker than those of a 

 man. Discussion of this subject is therefore useless. Ladies 

 who ride astride get such bad falls that they soon give up 

 this practice. 



At all paces the shoulders should be parallel to the ears of 

 the horse, which is possible only when the hips occupy a 

 similar position. Therefore the position of the lady depends 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



