How to ride and school a horse - 1894 Author:Edward Lowell Anderson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: critical time, and allowing the body, in case of any movement, to fall backwards towards the shoulder of the horse. 6. The absence of a reason for any one motion... more » in the method. THE SEAT. Upon the seat depends the security of the rider, not only as regards his remaining upon the horse, but in permitting him to use that lightness and delicacy of touch that is required to manage and control the horse. It has often been said that this desired lightness of touch is a rare gift, wholly denied to strong men. But if a man have a seatthat is independent of any support from the reins, he may acquire a light touch upon the mouth of the horse as readily as he may make a fine stroke with a pen. As I have said, each man has a seat peculiar to himself, and that will be his seat for all purposes, whether in the field, upon the road, or in the school. It will be obtained in the following manner:— After having reached the saddle, disengage the left foot from the stirrup. Then, bearing the weight of the body upon the buttocks, make the inner sides of the thighs, from the knees up, grasp the saddle. The body must be held erect, the shoulders thrown back, and thechin drawn in ; and the elbows should be carried close to the sides. The legs, from the knee down, should hang without stiffness, and the feet will, without effort, find their proper place, parallel with the body of the horse. The length of stirrup-leather will be found when the tread of the iron strikes the heel immediately above the junction of the sole. The toes will be raised and inserted in the stirrups as far as the balls of the feet. The stability of the seat is dependent upon the weight of the body, the balance and the grasp of the thighs. The erect seat upon the breech, that we have described, permits the body ...« less