252 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
windni II, the water having a temperature of 
about 58°. The milk as it is drawn is poured 
iuto tliese cans until they are nearly full and 
they are then stood iu the cold water. Whether 
we shall get to using ice-water remains to be 
seen, la fact the result of the whole experiment 
remains to be determined. I can only say now 
that it has been going on for l+o churning.s 
and both'quantity and quality of cream and 
butter are at least as good as under the much 
more laborious system of using innumerable 
shallow paus. A month hence, I shall probably 
be able to speak more definitely. 
Riding on Horseback.— No. 5. 
Wc have now given our learner a prelimi- 
nary shaking into a smooth and secure seat by 
mounting him on a horse whose management is 
intrusted to a friend, have taught him the use 
of the stirrups, and have shown him what sort 
of saddle and bridle lie needs lor his outfit. He 
is now ready to begin to learn to be a horseman, 
and he may next be taught to mount properly. 
He should first learn (if young enough for 
such efforts) to vault iuto the saddle. "We now 
and then hear of Princes, and the like, who 
lay one hand on the pommel aud " gracefully 
vault into the saddle," but we do not see the 
feat performed except by skilful acrobats, and 
it is not very gracefully performed even by them. 
The following method, however, demands but 
little skill or strength, aud, while always a good 
way to mount, is sometimes the only way it is 
practicable to mount a restive horse. 
1. Stand facing the horse's left shoulder; 2, 
adjust the reius in the left hand, aud take a lock 
of the mane in it; 3, lay the right hand on the 
pommel of the saddle, with the fingers inside 
and the thumb outside of it; 4, spriug upward 
and throw the whole weight on the hands, with 
the crotch at the hight of the saddle, fig. 1; 5, 
raise the right leg slowly, well over the horse's 
croup (without bending the knee), and drop 
lightly iuto the saddle, — during this movement 
most of the weight is borue by the right arm; 
6, withdraw the hands from the neck and pom- 
LEARNIXG TO MOUNT. 
mel, and put the feet iuto the stirrups. These 
movements should be practised until it becomes 
easy to make them moderately ; it looks very 
awkward to sec a man "scramble" into his 
seat by hooking his right leg over the saddle 
aud tugging himself over by his hands. As 
soon as your horse is accustomed to the ma- 
noeuvre, aud will stand quietly, practise the two 
movements (4 and 5) separately ; — first learn to 
spring from the ground to the position described, 
aud to drop easily down again without effort 
(and without kicking), and learn to handle the 
weight, when up, by raising the body until the 
knees are on a level with the bauds, aud settling 
back again. This movement depends very much 
on the ability to handle the weight of the per- 
son with the arms, and will need a little prac- 
tice, which may as well be taken on a wooden 
horse or a bar, fastened five feet from the 
ground— a little higher after this has become 
easy. Iu short, make it easy to get iuto 
this elevated position and to feel unrestrained, 
while in it ; next, learn to get the control of 
your right leg, so that, it becomes natural aud 
Fig. 2.— OLD MILITARY MOUNT. 
easy to throw it over the horse's croup with a 
bold swing — not poking it overknee foremost — 
aud to carry it so high that there is no danger 
of touching his hips with the toe, nor of scrap- 
ing his flank with the spur, as the foot descends. 
Keep up the alternate motions of throwing the 
leg over the saddle, aud of returning again to 
the erect position, until you can arrest the 
movement at any point, and have such perfect 
command of the weight that you can be sure of 
getting lightly into the saddle under all circum- 
stances. This knack once acquired will never 
be lost, and you may be sure of mounting any 
horse, except a bad rearer, on whose neck aud 
saddle you can once lay your bauds, — that much 
accomplished, you are sure of him, — aud you 
can safely dismount by reversing the move- 
ments, in spite of his efforts to give you a fall. 
While this vaulting is a very valuable knack 
to possess, the ordinary stead}', sober citizen 
whom we are addressing, will usually wish to 
mount with the stirrup. It is curious to see 
what different ways different people adopt to do 
so simple a thing. Some practise the old mili- 
tary system: — standing at the side of the horse's 
neck (face to the rear), with the left hand hold- 
ing the reins and a lock of the mane, they hold 
the stirrup with the right hand, fig. 2, put the 
left toe into it, give two hops which slews thein 
around until they face the horse aud catch the 
cantle (back part) of the saddle with the right 
hand, then rise aud get their scat. The first 
position of this maimer of mounting exposes 
the rear of the rider to a bite from the horse, 
which — the hand being engaged in the mane — 
he is powerless to prevent. A beginner usu- 
ally takes hold of both ends of the saddle, 
finallj' manages to get his toe into the dan- 
gling stirrup, and then struggles with more or 
less difficulty into the saddle, where, for a mo- 
ment he has no control of the horse, who, if he 
is at all spirited, commences the exercises by a 
very coufusing start. 
The correct manner of mounting with the 
aid of the stirrup, is, in our opinion, the follow- 
ing:—!. Stand opposite the cantle of the sad- 
dle (face to the front), with the right hand (hold- 
ing the rein short enough to feel the horse's 
mouth) far over on the right side of the cantle ; 
2, take the lower part of the stirrup leather in 
the left baud, and steady it while introducing 
the left foot, fig. 3 ; 3, give a spriug, upward 
aud forward, throwing the weight as evenly as 
possible on the left foot and on the right hand, 
so as not to turn the saddle, grasping the lower 
part of the mane with the left hand in rising, 
and standing erect in the stirrup, with the feet 
touching each other, fig. 4; 4, throw the right 
leg (without bending the kuee) well over the 
horse's croup, and (raising the right baud at the 
same time) drop lightly iuto the saddle; 5, as 
the right hand is raised from the cantle, let go 
of the mane aud receive the reins between the 
fingers of the left hand, letting go with the 
right as soou as they are properly adjusted. In 
dismounting, exactly reverse all of these move- 
ments, — especially bringing the feet together 
while standing in the stirrup. Practise these 
exercises until it becomes easy to mount a tall 
horse without disturbing an uugirthed saddle. 
There is a method of training, invented by a 
French rider, Baucher, and named after him, 
which is the most effective means for making 
both horse aud rider perfect iu their work. Its 
details are too minute for repetition here, but 
they are well set forth in Herbert's Hints to 
Horsekeepers, and will well reward the atten- 
tion of those who have the time and the enthu- 
siasm to follow them out. By their aid an un- 
broken horse, if a good subject, can be made a 
very nearly perfect saddle beast in two mouths' 
time — having a lesson of thirty minutes or less, 
morning and night. 
While it is not practicable to give here even 
an outline of this system, we shall adhere to its 
general principles, which are: to teach the 
horse but one thing at a time; to teach that 
thoroughly before proceeding with the next 
step; to make the lessons so short as not to dis- 
gust the pupil ; to reward obedience more espe- 
cially than to punish disobedience (or rather 
jjon-obedience) ; to make the horse thoroughly 
supple in every muscle of bis body, and to teach 
him to move all his members as easily — under 
the rider's weight, and under the restraint of 
his hand aud legs, — as he would do if playing 
in a pasture; aud to practise him in handling 
PKOPER WAY TO MOUNT WITH STIRRUP. 
the rider's weight, and iu obeying the rider's 
impulses aud restrictions, so that all his move- 
ments shall be made in accordance with the 
rider's will rather than his own — so that he 
shall, iu fact, make no account at all of bis own 
will, but execute that of the man instead. 
We are aware that this sounds like an impos- 
sibility, but any one who will faithfully study 
aud practise Baucher's system, will soon see 
that any horse of tolerable form and strength, 
and of average courage and temper, may be 
brought to this state of discipline without diffi- 
culty. 
