THE SEA'J. 278 



position of .he stirrup and the depression of the heel are 

 represented in fig. 29. The foot must always be carried 

 nearly parallel to the horses hody, turning out the toe but very 

 little. The great essential of any seat on horseback is, to 

 have it perfectly secure, natural, and unrestrained. Gau- 

 cher gives the following directions for acquiring a good seat 

 He recommends for the purpose a quiet old horse : 



The pupil being in the saddle, the instructor will e.sam- 

 ine his position in order to detect those parts which most 

 require suppling. The pupil will first expand his chest, 

 and retain himself some time in that position. He will next 

 move his head, to the right, or to the left, without a corre- 

 sponding motion of the shoulders. The chest, arms, and 

 head having become properly suppled, he will remove one 

 of his legs as far as possible away froin the saddle, and af- 

 terward replace it in such a manner as to take a firm clip 

 with his knees and thighs. The leg must be entirely un- 

 der the control of the pupil, and must be gi'adually replaced, 

 not allowed to fall back of its own weight. The thighs 

 and knees pi-eserving their adherence to the saddle; the 

 legs must be swung Jike a pendulum, the heels being raised 

 to the height of the cantle of the saddle. The pupil should 

 hold in either or both hands, weiglits of from ten to forty 

 pounds, and should continue this practice until he can do 

 it without affecting the security of his seat. The instruc- 

 tor should push the pupil from his seat to one side or to 

 the other, and should watch that he regains it by the use 

 of his hips and knees only. The hands, and consequently 

 the shoulders and whole upper portion of the body, should 

 remain motionless during this movement. In all of these 

 exercises the pupil must have in view the necessity for 

 guiding his horse independently of the means wliich keep 

 him in his position, and never endeavoring to sti-engthen 

 his position bv his hold of the »eins. It is a useful prac- 

 "12* 



