is afraid of it; and keeps his legs from his fides, if he finds he dreads the fpur. Avoid the ungraceful custom of letting your legs thake against the fides of the hore: and as you are not to keep your arms and elbows high, and in motion, fo you are not to rivet them by your fides, but let them fall eafy. One may, at a diftance, diftinguish a genteel horfeman from an awkward one: the first fits ftill, and appears of a piece with his horfe; the latter feems flying off at all points. It is often faid with emphafis, that fuch a one has no feat on horfeback; and it means, not only that he does not ride well, but that he does not fit on the right part of the horse. To have a good feat, is to fit on that part of the horse which, as he fprings, is the center of motion; and from which, of courfe, any weight would be with moft difficulty fhaken. As in the rifing and falling of a board placed in equilibrio the centre will be always moft at reft, the true feat will be found in that part of your faddle, into which your body would naturally flide if you rode without stirrups, and is only to be preferved by a proper poife of the body, though the generality of riders imagine it is to be done by the grafp of the thighs and knees. The rider fhould confider himself as united to his horfe in this point; and when fhaken from it, endeavour to restore the balance. termined for him by the bars of a demi-peak. Indeed there is no difference between the feat of either: only, as in the first you ride with fhorter ftirrups, your body will be confequently more behind your knees. To have a good feat yourself, your faddle muft fit well. To fix a precife rule might be difficult: it may be a direction, to have your faddle prefs as nearly as poflibly on that part which we have deferibed as the point of union between the man and horfe; however, so as not to obstruct the motion of the horfe's fhoulders. Place yourself in the middle or lowest part of it: fit erect; but with as little conftraint as in your ordinary fitting. The eafe of action marks the gentleman: you may repose yourself, but not lounge. The fet and ftudied erectnefs acquired in the riding-house, by thofe whofe deportment is not eafy, appears ungenteel and unnatural. Perhaps the mention of the two extremes of a bad feat may help to defcribe the true one. The one is, when the rider fits very far back on the faddle, fo that his weight preffes the loins of the horfe; the other, when his body hangs forward over the pommel of the faddle. The first may be seen practifed by grooms, when they ride with their ftirrups affectedly fhort; the latter, by fearful horfemen on the leaft flutter of the horfe. Every good rider has, even on the hunting faddle, as determined a place for his thighs, as can be deVOL. XIV. No. 82. PP If your horfe ftops fhort, or endea vours by rifing and kicking to unfeat you, bend not your body forward, as many do in thofe circumftances: that motion throws the breech backward, and you off your fork or twift, and out of your feat; whereas, the advancing the lower part of your body, and bending back the upper part and fhoulders, is the method both to keep your feat, and to recover it when lost. The bending your body back, and that in a great degree, is the greatest fecurity in flying leaps; it is a fecurity too, when your horfe leaps standing. The horfe's rifing does not try the rider's feat; the lafh of his hind legs is what ought chiefly to be guarded againft, and is best done by the body's being greatly inclined back. Stiffen not your legs or thighs; and let your body be pliable in the loins, like the coachman's on his box. This loofe manner of fitting will elude every rough motion of the horfe; whereas the fixture of the knees, fo commonly laid a ftrefs on, will in great fhocks conduce to the violence of the fall. trot. feat determine the length of your itirrups, rather than the fir rups your feat. If more precifion is requifite, let your ftirrups (in the hunting faddle) be of fuch a length, as that, when you ftand in them, there may be the breadth of four fingers between your feat and the faddle.. Was the cricket-player, when the alternate rifing and falling in a ful ball is ftruck with the greateft velocity, to hold his hand firm and fixed when be receives it, the hand would be bruifed, or perhaps the bones fractured by the refiftance. To obviate this accident he therefore gradually yields his hands to the motion of the ball for a certain distance; and thus by a due mixture of oppofition and obedience, catches it without fuftaining the leaft injury. The cafe is exactly the fame ju riding the fkilful horfeman will recover his poife by giving fome way to the motion; and the ignorant horfeman will be flung out of his feat by endeavouring to be fixed. Stretch not out your legs before you this will pufa you against the back of the faddle: neither gather up your knees, like a man riding on a pack this throws your thighs up. wards: each practice unfeats you. Keep your legs ftraight down; and fit not on the moft fleshy part of the thighs, but turn them inward, fo as to bring in your knees and toes: and it is more fafe to ride with the ball of the foot preffing on the ftirrup, than with the ftirrup as far back as the heel; for the preffure of the heel befog in that cafe behind the firrup, keeps the thighs down. It would greatly affift a learner, if he would practile riding in a large circle, without ftirrups: keeping his face looking on the outward part of the circle fo as not to have a full view of the horfe's head, but just of that ear which is on the outward part of the circle; and his thoulder, which is toward the center of the circle, very forward. By this means you learn to balance your body, and keep a true feat, independent of your firrups you may probably likewife efcape a fail, fhould you at any time lofe them by being accidentally maken from your feat. As the feat in fome measure depends on the faddle, it may not be amifs to obferve, that because a faddle with a high pommel is thought dangerous, the other extreme prevails, and the pommel is fcarce allowed to be higher than the middle of the fadWhen you find your thighs thrown die. thighs thrown dle. The faddle fhould lie as near upward, widen your knees to get the back-bone as can be, without them and the upper part of your fork hurting the horfe; for the nearer you Jower down on the horse. Grafp the fit to his back, the better feat you faddle with the hollow or inner part Lave. If it does fo, it is plain the of your thighs, but not more than juft pommel must rife enough to fecure to allift the balance of your body: this the withers from preffure: therefore, will alfo enable you to keep your fpurs a horfe whofe withers are higher than from the horse's fides, and to bring common, requires a higher pommel. your toes in, without that affected and If, to avoid this, you make the faddle felefs manner of bringing them in of a more ftraight line, the inconvenipractifed by many. Sink your heels ence fpoken of follows; you fit too raight down; for while your heels much above the horse's back, nor can and thighs keep down, you cannot the faddle form a proper feat. There fall: this (aided with the bend of the fhould be no ridge from the button at back) gives the fecurity of a feat, to the fide of the pommel, to the back shole who bear themfelves up in their part of the faddle. That line alfə trups in a fwift gallop, or in the should be a little concave, for your thighs thighs to lie at cafe. In fhort, a faddle ought to be, as nearly as poffible, as if cut out of the horse.. When you want your horfe to move forward, raise his head a little, and touch him gently with your whip; or elfe, prefs the calves of your legs against his fides. If he does not move faft enough, prefs them with more force, and fo till the fpur just touches him. By this practice he will (if he has any fpirit) move upon the leaft preffure of the leg. Never fpur him. by a kick; but if it be neceffary to fpur him brifkly, keep your heels clofe to his fides, and flacken their force as he becomes obedient. When your horse attempts to be vicious, take each rein feparate, one in each hand, and advancing your arms forward, hold him very thort. In this cafe, it is common for the rider to pull him hard, with his arms low.But the horse by this means having his head low too, has it more in his power to throw out his heels: whereas, if his head be raised very high, and his nose thrown out a little, which is confequent, he can neither rife before nor behind; because he can give himfelf neither of thofe motions, without having his head at liberty. A plank -placed in equilibrio cannot rife at one end unless it finks at the other. If your horfe is headftrong, pull not with one continued pull, but stop, and back him often, juft fhaking the, reins, and making little repeated pulls till he obeys. Horfes are fo accuftomed to bear on the bit when they go forward, that they are difcouraged if the rider will not let them do fo. If a horse is loofe necked, he will throw up his head at a continued pull; in which fituation the rider, feeing the front of his face, can have no power over him. When your horfe does thus, drop your hand, and give the bridle play, and he will of course drop his head again into its proper place while it is coming down, make a fe. cond gentle pull, and you will find his Pp a mouth. With a little practice, this is done almoft inftantaneously; and this method will stop, in the diftance of a few yards, a horse, which will run away with thofe who pull at him with all their might. Almost every one must have cbierved, that when a horfe feels himfelf pulled with the bridle, even when he is going gently, he often miftakes what was defigned to ftop him, as a direction to bear on the bit and to go faster. Keep your horfe's head high, that he may raife his neck and creft; play a little with the rein, and move the bit in his mouth, that he may not prefs on it in one conftant and continued manner: be not afraid of raising his head too high; he will naturally be too ready to bring it down, and tire your arms with its weight, on the least abatement of his mettle. When you feel him heavy, stop him, and make him go back a few paces: thus you break by degrees his propensity to prefs on his bridle. You ought not to be pleafed (tho many are) with a round neck, and a head drawn in toward his breaft: let your horfe carry his head bridling in, provided he carries it high, and his neck arching upwards; but if his neck bends downward, his figure is bad, his fight is too near his toes, he leans on the bridle, and you have no command over him. If he goes preffing bat lightly on the bridle, he is the more fure-footed, and goes pleafanter; as your wrift only may guide him. If he hangs down his head, and makes you fupport the weight of that and his neck with your arms bearing on his forelegs, (which is called being on his fhoulders) he will ftrike his toes on the ground, and stumble. If your horfe is heavy upon the bit, tie him every day, for an hour or two, with his tail to the manger, and his head as high as you can make him lift it, by a rein on each poft of the ftall, to each ring of the fnaffle bit. Horfe-breakers and grooms have a great great propensity to bring a horfe's head down, and feem to have no feat without a trong hold by the bridle. They know, indeed, that the head fhould yield to the reins, and the neck form an arch; but, do not take the proper pains to make it an arch upward. A temporary effect of attempt ing to raise a horfe's head, may perhaps be making him push out his nofe., They will here tell you, that his head is too high already; whereas it is not the distance from his nose, but from the top of his head to the ground, which determines the head to be high. or low. Besides, although the fault is faid to be in the manner of carrying the head, it should rather be faid to be in that of the neck; for if the neck was raised, the head would be more in the pofition of one fet on a well-formed neck, The defign therefore of lifting up the head is to raise the neck, and there by bring in the head; for even while the bridle makes the fame line from the rider's hand to the bit, the horse's nofe may be either drawn in, or thruft out, according as his peck is raifed or depreffed. Instead of what has been here recommended, we ufually fee colts broke with their heads caveffoned very low, their necks ftiff, and not in the leaft fuppled. When the breaking tackle is left off, and they are mounted for the road, having more food and reft, they frequently plunge, and a fecond breaking becomes neceffary. Then, as few gentlemen can manage their own horfes, they are put into the hands of grooms, from whom they learn a variety of bad habits. If, on the other hand, your horfe carries his head (or rather his nofe) too high, he generally makes fome amends by moving his fhoulders lightly, and going fafely. Attend to the caufe of this fault. Some horfes have their necks fet fo low on their fhoulders, that they bend first down, then upward, like a ftag's. Some have the upper line of their necks, from their ears to their withers, too short. A head of this fort cannot possibly bend inward and form an arch, because the vertebræ (or neck bones) are too fhort to admit of flexure; for in long and fhort-necked horfes the number of the vertebræ is the fame. In fome, the jaw is fo thick, that it meets the neck, and the head by this means has not room to bend. On the other hand, fome have the under line from the jaw to the breaft fo fhort, that the neck cannot rife.. In all thefe cafes you may gain a little by a nice hand with an easy bit ; but no curb, martingale, or other forcible method, will teach a horse to carry his head or neck in a pofture which nature has made uneasy to him. By trying to pull in his nofe farther than he can bear, you will add a bað habit to nature. You could not indeed contrive a more effe&tual method to make him continually tofs his nose up, and throw his foam over you. The rule already given to ride a loofe-necked horfe, will be a proper one for all light mouthed horses: one cantion being added, which is, always to fearch whether his faddle or girths may not in fome way pinch him; and whether the bit may not hurt his lip by being too high in his mouth; becaufe, whenever he frets from either of these causes; his head will not be fteady, It is a common cuftom to be always pulling at the bridle, as if to fet off to advantage either the fpirit of the horfe, or the skill of the rider. Our horfes therefore are taught to hold their heads low, and pull, fo as to bear up the rider from the faddle, standing in his ftirrups, even in the gentleft gallop: how very improper this is, we are experimentally convinced, when we happen to meet with a horfe which gallops otherwife. We immediately fay, he canters excellently, and find the cafe and pleasure of his motion. When horfes horfes are defigned for the race, and fwiftnefs is the only thing confidered, the method may be a good one. It is not to be wondered that dealers are always pulling at their horfes; that they have the fpur conftantly in their fides, and are at the fame time continually checking the rein: by this means they make them bound, and champ the bit, while their rage has the appearance of fpirit. Thele people ride with their arms fpread, and very low on the fhoulders of their horfes this method makes them ftretch their necks, and gives a better appearance to their fore-hands; it conceals alfo a thick jaw, which, if the head was up, would prevent its yielding to the bit; it hides likewife the ewe-neck, which would otherwife fhow itself. Indeed, if you have a horfe unfteady to the bit, formed with a na tural heavy head, or one which carries his nofe obftinately in the air, you must find his mouth where you can, and make the best of him. Many horfes are taught to ftart by whipping them for ftarting. How is it poffible they can know it is defigned as a punishment? in the riding houfe, you teach your horfe to rife up before, and to fpring and lafh out his hinder legs, by whipping him when tied between two pillars, with his head a little at liberty. If he understood this to be a punishment for doing fo, he would not by that method learn to do it. He feems to be in the fame manner taught to pring and fly when he is frightened. Moft horfes would go quietly paft an object they were beLioning to fly from, if their riders, in itead of gathering up their bridles, and fhowing themfelyes fo ready, fhould throw the reins loofe upon their necks. When a horfe ftarts at any thing on one fide, moft riders turn him out of the road, to make him go up to what he flarts at: if he does not get the better of his fear, or readily comply, he generally goes paft the object, making with his hinder parts, or croup, a great circle out of the road; whereas, he fhould learn to keep ftraight on, without minding objects on either fide. If he starts at any thing on the left, hold his head high, and keep it straight in the road, pulling it from looking at the thing he starts at, and keeping your right leg hard preffed against his fide, toward his flauk: he will then go ftraight along the road. By this method, and by turning his head a litte more, he may be forced with his croup close up to what frightened him; for as his head is pulled one way, hiscroup neceffarily turns the other.Always avoid a quarrel with your horfe, if you can: if he is apt to start, you will find occafions enough to execife his obedience, when what he' itarts at lies directly in his way, and you must make him pafs; if he is not subject to start, you should not quarrel with him about a trifle. It malt be obferved, however, that this rule in going past an object may perhaps be a little irregular in a managed horfe, which will always obey the leg: but even fuch a horse, if he is really afraid, and not reftive, it may not be amifs to make him look another way; unleis the object be fomething you would particularly accuftom him to the fight of. The cafe will also be different with a ho. fe whofe fear is owing to his being not used to obje&s; but such a one is not to be rode by any horfeman to whom thefe rules are directed: the ftarting here meant arifes merely from the horfe's being pampered, and fpringing through liveliness. The notion of the neceffity of making a horfe go immediately up to every thing he is afraid of, and not fuffering him to become maiter of his rider, feems to be in general carried too far. It is an approved and good method to conquer a horfe's fear of the found of a drum, by beating one near to him at the time of feeding him: this not only |