"MODERN RISING."

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVI, Issue 49, 30 November 1909, Page 1

"MODERN RISING."

The following passages occur in a book entitled "Modern liiding/' by .Major Birch, ail authority on horsemanship : "If rapid progress is to >e made the pupil must feel as comfor\ *-ble as possible under the circumstances, and be given confidence by avoidance ot falls. A saddle covered with buckskin increases the friction between the leg and the flap ; and if such a saddle is available the instructor should make use of it. The French have a saddle not unlike the Australian buck-jumping one, into which they force the man without any reference to his make and shape, in order to get his legs into the correct position. In a minor degree, tying the stirrups together has a similar effect, but this is the smallest of the benefits derived from the use of this contrivance, which is of the greatest value. Its chief advantage is that it makes falling off under ordinary circumstances extremely difficult; the leg cannot fly out very far from the saddle in any direction, so that if balance is lost it can be regained at once without a fall, whilst if the pupil flies up into the air his feet meet tho arch >f tho stirrup-iron and he drops back into his seat. Now when a man falls his frame becomes rigid (and that is why he so easily breaks his bones). It therefore follows that, when he thinks 'ie is going to fall hTs stiffens himself ill over, and thereby loses all clianco if keeping his balance. With a short experience of tho strap comes confidence, and the pupil allpws his muscles L o relax. The importance of this remit cannot be exaggerated. Assheton ■Smith's famous maxim that no man ;an be called a horseman until he knows low to fall is hardly one for beginners. During instruction in jumping this strap is more than useful, as the con'idence it gives the pupil enables him to centre his attention on the instructor and attend to his directions."