74 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
O did we run our better race, 
(Thus may the muse conclude her strain,) 
With half the zeal we give the chase, 
What endless honours should we gain. 
As a correct knowledge of Horsemanship is necessary 
to those who pursue the manly and invigorating sport of 
Fox Hunting, the following hints are selected, which may 
prove interesting and instructive. 
The great secret, or the very essence, I may say, of 
the art of riding, consists in assuming or taking a corres- 
ponding motion to that of the horse ; or, in other words, 
the rider should accommodate himself, with a pleasant 
pliability to every motion of the horse : whenever it is 
otherwise, his seat will be unpleasant, unsafe, and indeed 
dangerous. This may be regarded, not only as the es- 
sence of horsemanship (as I have already observed,) but 
as the fundamental principle, from which subsequent ex- 
cellence or proficiency must arise; and cannot be too deep- 
ly impressed on the minds of those who feel any inter- 
est in the subject. On this account, I would advise those 
who wish to become excellent horsemen to practice with- 
out stirrups, which they will find of the greatest possible 
service in forming a close secure seat. Respecting the 
close seat, it may not be amiss here to remark, that there 
are to be found advocates for the loose seat. On this 
subject, I had, some few years ago, a conversation with a 
riding master, who seemed to think that a loose seat in 
hunting was to be preferred: on expressing my surprise 
at such a notion, he endeavoured to prove the correctness 
of his position by observing, that, in case of a fall, the 
horse would not be so likely to roll on the rider, as the 
latter would most probably be thrown several yards from 
him. The man who reasoned thus is a good rider in the 
school, and has an elegant seat on horseback; but, like 
some others of his fraternity whom I have met with, he is 
timid; and his remarks on this subject were evidently the 
offspring of fear rather than philosophy ; nor, when duly 
considered, can any thing be more remote from truth. 
Admitting that a loose seat will be the cause of precipitat- 
ing the rider to a distance in case of the horse falling, 
the very circumstance itself appears to me more pregnant 
with danger than the chance of the horse rolling upon his 
rider. The most imminent danger, I conceive, of a horse 
rolling upon his rider, is when, in jumping timber, a wall, 
or other fence with a stiff' top, the horse catches it with 
his fore feet, and goes “ bull-neck over,” to use a very ex- 
pressive phrase of a sporting friend; and I am in doubt 
whether in this case the loose rider is not in more danger 
than the close rider. At all events, a loose rider must 
calculate on a great number of falls, since, with a seat of 
this description, he must be liable to be unhorsed on every 
trifling irregularity, circumstances which are constantly 
occurring, in following hounds across a country. 
But it does not always happen, that a horse comes 
“ bull-neck over,” if he tips the top of a gate or style; 
since one which I at present possess, a good hunter, too, 
and has carried me many times after hounds, has frequent- 
ly carried off the top bar of a gate, but kept his legs, ne- 
vertheless ; indeed such a circumstance, when a strong 
horse comes thus in contact with a weak or rotten gate or 
rail, is sure to happen. 
In advising a young sportsman to practice riding with- 
out stirrups, it must not be understood, that I consider the 
stirrups as useless: on the contrary, the ease of the sports- 
man depends mainly upon them, and frequently his safety 
also. I am aware that riding masters pretend (and Adams 
among the rest) that the use of the stirrup adds no secu- 
rity to the seat ; but, if they mean to apply this maxim 
to riding after hounds, it is not only untrue, but a positive 
absurdity. The knee and the calf of the leg are the main 
holds of the horseman in riding over fences, and, indeed, 
in riding over a country in general, and these cannot be 
applied with half their embracing force to the sides of the 
horse, without the use of the stirrups : the experiment is 
easily made ; and those who choose to take the trouble of 
making it will not only perceive the evident utility of the 
stirrup, but be fully convinced, that a short stirrup rather 
than a long one, and the foot home in it, is, of all posi- 
tions, that which enables the rider to embrace his horse 
most firmly, and consequently is the most conducive to 
his safety. 
In speaking of short stirrups, it will be necessary to 
define more particularly what I mean by the term ; and 
this I will endeavour to do, in language sufficiently clear, 
so as to avoid, or prevent, even the possibility of miscon- 
ception. The seat upon horseback may be compared to 
the seat upon a common chair ; and, therefore, for hunt- 
ing, I would have the stirrup of that precise length as 
would allow the rider to sit fairly upon the saddle : if, 
for instance, it be taken up so short that it pushes or re- 
moves the rider towards the cantle of the saddle (which 
he will easily perceive on trying the experiment) it is then 
too short ; but, while the rider can sit fairly down in the 
saddle, I am of opinion the stirrup cannot be too short. 
The instructions of riding masters are to keep the body 
erect, with the shoulders well back, and the chest thrown 
out : as general directions, these are correct enough ; but, 
as in hunting, so many incidental or unforeseen circum- 
stances occur, these instructions, though kept in mind, 
must be made subservient accordingly. Therefore, upon 
the incidental irregularities which occur in hunting, I must 
once more observe, that the rider must make his motions 
