17a 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
ports his legs by slimips attached near its front ; 
and his illustration of the sort of seat that is 
*-S=*?=^_ 
THE MODERN MlLITAl'.Y SEAT. 
best (see fig. 1), is certainly very good indeed, 
and may well be taken as a model of elegance, 
ease, and safety for the imitation of the learner. 
Mr. Apperley, a celebrated English authority 
on fox-hunting, says : " When hounds find and 
go away, place yourself well down in your 
saddle, on your fork or twist ; aud do not be 
standing up in your stirrups (as was formerly 
the fashion, and the cause of many a dislocated 
neck), slicking out your rump as if it did not 
belong to you;" and he accompanies his direc- 
tion with a very instructive illustration of a bad 
and a good seat (fig. 2). As riding is an imi- 
tative art, there is really much more to be 
learned from these illustrations than from any 
description that it is in our power to give ; but 
the rider should always bear in mind that a well- 
balanced horse, in turning to the right or the 
}eft, turns on his center of gravity, or " center 
of motion ; " and that if the rider's weight is 
placed to the front or rear of this position, it 
will not only impede the horse's free movement, 
but will feel much more disturbance than if in 
its proper position. The learner, if he really 
desires to become a first-rate horseman — and it 
is only when stimulated by this desire that one 
can really enjoy learning to ride — should 
consider well what experience has shown to be 
the best position (as indicated in our cut?), aud 
continue his practice until this position becomes 
the most easy and natural; it surely will be- 
come so by sufficient practice, and, when a good 
Beat is once obtained, it can no more be forgot- 
ten than the art of swimming. 
The second part of Major Dwyer's book, 
has preceded him, the importance of great care 
in the adjustment and management of the bit 
aud bridle, giving some opinions which are quite 
new to the writer, and which are obviously im- 
portant. 
His device for the head-gear of a young horse 
that is to be broken for any purpose, or of any 
horse that is to be trained to the saddle, we 
show in fig. 3. This is an ordinary snaffle 
bridle, with a single pair of reins, with the 
check-pieces drawn short enough to cause the 
bit to touch lightly in the corners of the mouth. 
There is attached to it, by two straps buckled 
one into each check-piece, a nose-band, or strap, 
which passes around the nose quite below the 
bit, but high enough to take its bearing on the 
bone rather than on the cartilage of the nose. 
This strap is drawn tight enough to prevent 
the horse from opening his mouth to any con- 
siderable width. There is no way in which a 
colt does more to make himself insensible to 
the action of the bridle than by stretching open 
his jaw and bearing against the bit. From the 
position of this nose-band, it is entirely out of 
the way of both bridle and bit ; aud as the 
mouth is not tightly bound together by it, it can 
in no way interfere with proper control by the 
grave objections that hold against all forms of 
martingales, having nothing whatever to do 
Fig. 4.— KUNNING KEIN. 
rider. It simply prevents the horse from re- 
sorting to a very common means of defense. 
Another apparatus described must be very 
useful, not only in training, but in the manage- 
ment of all horses who have the trick of carry- 
ing their heads so high as to cause the bit, 
when pulled upon, to ride up into the corners of 
their mouths instead of bearing, as it should do, 
against the lower jaw. It should be equally 
Fig. 2. — GOOD AND BAD SEAT. 
which is perhaps even more valuable than the 
first, relates to "Bits aud Bitting;" and he 
shows more conclusively than any writer who 
valuable in preventing an animal from tossing 
his head in a fitful way. as many horses do. It 
is at the same time entirely free from the 
1IEAD-GEAK FOB YOUN'G HOUSES. 
with the reins, and subjecting the horse to 
no constraint so long as he carries his 
head in the proper position. It is called a 
"running rein," and is shown in fig. 4. A 
short strap, d, about six inches long, with a 
buckle at each end, is fastened to two rings 
of the snaffle, and passes under 
the horse's chin. At the middle 
of this strap there i3 attached 
another, i, three or four iuches 
long, at the end of which there is 
a stout, smooth ring, c, au inch 
or more in diameter. There is a 
strap, k, around the neck which 
supports au other, I, that passes 
back to the girth of the saddle, 
a3 with the ordinnry martin- 
gale ; but this latter strap, instead 
of being split into two parts, as 
in the martingale, extends six 
or eight inches beyond the neck 
strap, where it carries another 
smooth ring, b, somewhat larger 
than the one under the chin. 
These rings are better made 
of ivory ; but iron, if smooth, 
would answer tolerably well. The "run- 
ning rein" e to /, is of the width of an 
ordinary bridle-strap, 8'|i feet long. If not 
made of one piece of leather, its joints 
should uot be within 2 feet of the center. One 
of its ends is furnished with a buckle, aud a 
tongue-strap 18 inches long, which is to be 
buckled through a staple or D ring on the left 
side of the saddle near the pommel. The other 
end of the strap is then passed through the 
ring, b, in front of the horse's breast, then through 
the ring,c, under his chin, then again through the 
breast-riug, b, aud brought up to the rider's right 
hand,/. This arrangement gives him more power 
to draw the horse's head down to its proper 
position than any other device in use. So long 
as the animal behaves himself, the slackening 
of the "running rein" leaves him perfect free- 
dom, but, when necessary, the least pull acts 
with double force on his head and draws it in a 
downward direction. 
Whether a horse is to be used for riding or 
for driving, there is no doubt that the use of the 
" running reiu" and the nose-baud bridle would 
offer the best means for his proper training, and 
would do very much to prevent the restiveness 
that is so common a result of the ordinary 
methods, and would often prevent the trainer's 
loss of temper, which has more effect in spoil- 
ing the disposition of the animal than have his 
own inherited qualities. 
