MODERN RIDING. 199 



It is true that many leap entirely by the 

 help of their stirrups, but they leap very 

 badly ; they sometimes with great difficulty 

 save themselves from coming to the ground ; 

 and, when a horse makes a rough or awkward 

 Leap, they generally do fall. Let it be ob- 

 served that any disturbance of the seat, whe- 

 ther you are thrown up from the saddle, or 

 your body falls forward, or you get out of 

 balance, is as disgraceful as falling to the 

 ground. A person should sit so close as to 

 carry a shilling under each thigh, just above 

 the knee, one in each stirrup under each toe, 

 and one under his breech, — and this, when 

 practised on steady leaping horses, should 

 seldom fail. 



It is evident, that when any action of the 

 horse tends to lift you from the saddle, stir- 

 rups cannot keep you down. Nothing but 

 the gravity of the body presses to the saddle. 

 The pressure of the thighs indeed holds it 

 down ; and when the action is so violent that 

 the hold with the thighs is not sufficient, then 

 the legs are applied, which is a deeper and 



