THEORY OF THE SEAT.
The best seat for all practical purposes is evidently one which affords security and comfort to the rider and freedom from injury to the horse. The lady should sit (not lean) forward in the saddle, so as to get a good grip of the crutches; and should bring her seat well under her (“sit well into the saddle”), in order to bring the centre of gravity of her body well back, as regards her base of support, and thus to increase her stability, which will depend almost entirely on her power to resist forward propulsion, when the horse suddenly stops or swerves to the left. Her hold of the reins will in any case prevent her from toppling backwards over the animal’s tail, in the event of his making an unexpected movement forward from the halt, or suddenly increasing his speed when in motion. The faulty practice of riding the crutches, instead of sitting down in the saddle, brings the weight forward, and places the lady in the best possible position to fall off.
The greater difficulty which a rider has in keeping her seat when her mount abruptly swerves to the left, than when he goes to the right, is due to the fact that in the former case, the upper crutch is drawn away from the right thigh; but in the latter case, it forms a more or less effective obstacle to the forward movement of the right thigh, and thus helps the rider to retain her seat. To explain this subject more fully, I may point out, that if a person is standing on the foot-board of the right side of a rapidly moving train which suddenly turns to the left, he or she would be far more inclined to fall off, than if a similar change of direction had been made to the right, in both of which instances the side of the train would play the part of the upper crutch. The fact that the lower part of the rider’s right leg rests against the horse’s near shoulder, as in [Fig. 79], will materially help her in keeping her seat, in the event of an abrupt swerve to the left.
The side position of the seat, combined with the fact that the head has to be kept more or less in the direction the horse is proceeding, causes more weight to be placed on the near side than on the off. Although the rider cannot entirely remove this disadvantage, she may lessen this unequal distribution of weight, (1) by avoiding the use of too long a stirrup leather, for the longer it is, the more inclined will she be to bring her weight to the near side, in order to obtain the assistance of her stirrup; (2) by sitting a little over on the off side, so as to place her weight as much as possible on the middle line of the seat of the saddle, namely, over the backbone of the horse; and (3), as already pointed out ([p. 34]), by having the leaping head close to the upper crutch. In order to meet the second requirement, she should rest her weight on her right leg, which in any case will have less fatigue to bear than the left one. Putting the weight on the right leg has the further advantage of lessening the tendency of the right shoulder to go forward, and of diminishing the pressure of the left foot on the stirrup.
The preponderance of weight on the left side of the saddle is liable to cause undue pressure on the off side of the withers, and also, though to a lesser extent, on the off side of the backbone, under the cantle of the saddle, with the result that ladies’ horses frequently get sore backs at these places. As this unequal distribution of weight on the near side varies more or less at each stride of the horse; the saddle has a strong inclination, during movement, to keep working from one side to the other, and consequently, in order to check this hurtful tendency, a lady’s saddle has to be girthed up much tighter than a man’s saddle, and also to be provided with a balance strap ([p. 53]).
The only means by which the rider can maintain her position in the saddle are balance and grip, both of which are accomplished by muscular action, though in different ways. What is popularly known as “grip,” is effected by continued muscular contraction, which speedily gives rise to fatigue, and consequently can be kept up for only a comparatively short time. The balance required for holding the body more or less erect, as in walking, standing and sitting, is, on the contrary, preserved by the alternate contraction and relaxation of a large number of muscles, the work of which, being intermittent and more or less evenly distributed, can be maintained for a long period without fatigue. It is therefore evident that a lady should ride as much as possible by balance, and that she should use grip only when its aid is demanded for keeping her secure in the saddle. It is obvious that grip is the riding function of the legs; and balance, that of the body. As grip has generally to be put in action at a moment’s notice, the legs should be kept in such a position as to enable them to apply the necessary grip with promptness and precision. Hence the rider should not move about in the saddle, as some are inclined to do, in the attempt to “sit back” when going over a fence.
While keeping the legs in a uniform position, the rider will obtain all the balance she needs, by the play of her hip joints and by that of the joints of the body above them, and will thus be enabled to sit erect, lean back or forward, or bring her weight to one side or the other, as may be required.
Grip from the left leg is obtained by pressure against the leaping head, which can be effected either by certain muscles of the thigh or by those of the ankle joint. The amount of pressure which can be obtained by the former method is far less than by the latter, for which a short stirrup leather is necessary. The comparative feebleness of this action of the thigh muscles can be readily seen by the small resistance which they can make against downward pressure, when the knee is raised with the foot off the ground. If, however, the foot is on the ground, the muscles which straighten the ankle joint will enable the knee to be raised, even against strong downward pressure. It might be objected to this mode of obtaining grip, that the powerful pressure thus exerted on the stirrup iron, would cause a downward pull on the (near) left side, which is, however, counterbalanced by the upward pressure of the left leg on the leaping head, and consequently it has no displacing effect on the saddle. It is evident that this action of the ankle joint can be performed effectively, only when the ball of the foot rests on the stirrup. If the foot is put “home,” the ankle joint will have little or no play. When using the leaping head, we should bear in mind that the action of the muscles which straighten the ankle joint, should be independent of the body. If this condition is not observed, the tendency will be to put undue weight on the stirrup, and to bring the body forward.
It is evident that placing weight on the stirrup, without at the same time exerting counterbalancing pressure against the leaping head, will not only put undue weight on the near side, but will also bring the body forward.
The right leg can help in obtaining grip, either by bending the knee and bringing the calf of the leg round the upper crutch, or by lateral pressure of the knee against that crutch. The former method is entirely wrong, because it cannot be fully carried out, except by bringing the body forward,[150-*] which action is incompatible with firmness of seat, when going over fences, or when the horse makes any abrupt and disconcerting movement. This “hooked-back” seat also predisposes a lady to fall over the off shoulder of an animal which suddenly swerves to the near side; the reason being that in such a case, the upper crutch acts as the pivot of revolution. On account of causing the weight to be brought forward, this hooked-back style also tends to make her bump up and down in her saddle. The lateral method, which is effected by the inward rotation of the right thigh, is free from the foregoing objections; and by causing the lower part of the right leg to be placed against the horse’s shoulder, it affords the rider valuable indications of the animal’s movements. Also, as the lateral pressure is as nearly as practicable in a direction opposite to that of the pressure of the left leg against the leaping head; it will act to the best advantage, and it will allow the body full freedom to be drawn back by the play of the hip joints. The pressure of the hooked-back leg is, on the contrary, nearly at right angles to that of the left leg ([Fig. 80]), and consequently it affords very little help in the attainment of grip.
The hooked-back style of riding induces fatigue by continued muscular contraction, and is a fertile cause of ladies becoming cut under the right knee, which fact is fully proved by the numerous devices which have been brought out by saddlers with the view of obviating this injury.
It is easy to prove by experiment, that when we sit in an unconstrained position on a chair or saddle for instance, the direction of our shoulders will be at right angles to that of our legs, or, more correctly speaking, at right angles to a line bisecting the angle formed by our legs. Hence, when riding, we cannot continue to sit absolutely “square” (having our shoulders at right angles to the direction of our mount) without keeping our body in a stiff position, which in a short time will be productive of discomfort and fatigue. Although the maintenance of a twisted position of the body to the right is incompatible with ease, no discomfort will arise from looking more or less straight to the front, because the muscles which regulate the direction of the neck and eyes are gifted with great mobility, and their respective periods of contraction and relaxation are comparatively short, when we are looking to the front. Even when walking at ease, the direction of the shoulders, which alters at every step, in no way affects that of our line of sight; and it certainly would not do so, when we are riding. The continued maintenance of a perfectly square seat entails so much muscular rigidity, that it is unsuitable for ’cross-country work, or for the riding of “difficult” horses. In any case, it causes the body to assume a twisted and therefore an unnatural position; because the fact of the right hip joint being more advanced than the left one, will prevent the lower and posterior part of the trunk (the pelvis) from being parallel, as it ought to be, with the line connecting the shoulders. To facilitate the attainment of a “square seat,” some saddlers incline the upper crutch a good deal towards the off side, and thus curtail the space between that crutch and the near side of the horse’s shoulder and neck so much, that the rider is unable to get her right leg into proper position, and is consequently obliged to “hook it back.” I need hardly say that such saddles do not suit good horsewomen.
An absurd fallacy of some of the “square seat” school is that the right thigh (from hip joint to knee) should be kept parallel to the horse’s backbone, a position which would put a great deal more weight on the near side of the saddle than on the off, and would consequently be liable to give the horse a sore back. On the contrary, the even distribution of the rider’s weight is an essential condition of comfort to the animal and of security of seat to the rider, and is of infinitely greater importance than the attainment of a conventional and unnatural attitude.
The majority of riding-masters are such admirers of the “square seat,” that when giving a lady her first few lessons, they will as a rule keep constantly telling her to keep her right shoulder back, which she cannot do without twisting and stiffening her body.
For practical requirements, as out hunting or on a long journey, the seat should be free from all constraint and rigidity, so that it can be maintained without undue fatigue for several hours, during which time the rider should be able at any moment to utilise the grip of her legs with promptness, precision and strength. A lady, with a good seat and properly made saddle, will ride quite square enough ([Fig. 81]) to avoid any lack of elegance in her appearance without having to adopt a conventional twist.