When mounted, the body should be easily and pliably erect, inclining rather backwards than forwards; the weight entirely resting upon the posteriors, proportionally relieved by the continuation of the thighs, and an equal moderate pressure of both the legs upon the sides of the horse. To preserve which position free from constraint and stiffness, the proper length of the STIRRUPS is a matter most material to be attended to; for unless they are in length adapted to the stature of the RIDER, it will be impracticable for him to keep a firm and graceful seat, particularly with violent, vicious, or restive horses, upon many emergencies. The general error, particularly with inexperienced horsemen, who have never been accustomed to ride in the early part of life, is having their stirrups ridiculously short, by which they injudiciously conceive they insure their own personal safety; though the opposite is the fact, and with a spirited horse they are always in greater danger; for the knees being lifted above the skirt of the saddle, the thighs are rendered useless, the legs are deprived of their necessary assistance, the rider is left without a seat or fulcrum to sustain his position, and rocking first on one side, then swinging on the other, he is left entirely at the mercy of his horse. That this may be the better reconciled to every comprehension, the stirrups, for ease and safety, should be exactly in this state; that the rider sitting upon his horse (either still or in action) should be able to disengage his foot from the stirrup at a single motion, and by keeping his foot in a direct horizontal position, would have the command and power of recovering or catching the stirrup almost instantaneously, with the slightest effort for that purpose.

These remarks, properly attended to, the body will be found easy, firm, and commanding; divested of all those rockings, jerkings, and twistings, sometimes over the horse's head, at others over his tail, displaying the FEATS of an involuntary attitudinarian, seldom seen but in Hyde Park, or the environs of the Metropolis. The left-hand is termed the bridle-hand, and the left elbow must come nearly into gentle contact with the body, which it has always for its support in any sudden jump, start, or stumble, of the horse; in want of which regular bearing (if required) the hand could not be always equally steady, and would of course frequently, but unintentionally, prove a check to the horse. It is impossible to lay down fixed and invariable rules for the precise distance of the left-hand from the breast, or its heighth from the saddle; horses differ so much in their MOUTHS, that the bridle-hand must be used higher or lower, and the reins longer or shorter in proportion. The right-hand (termed, in racing, the whip-hand) should be held in a kind of corresponding uniformity with the left, acting also occasionally in the use of the reins, and the management of the mouth; and this is the more necessary, as every complete HORSEMAN, or perfect SPORTSMAN, can manage the reins (of even a run-away horse) as well with one hand as the other.

The hand should always be firm, but delicately pliable, feelingly alive to every motion of the mouth; for, by giving and taking properly, the horse has better opportunity to display his spirit, and demonstrate the pleasure he receives, in being encouraged to champ upon the bit. As the necessary qualifications which constitute the excellence of horsemanship can never be derived from theory, and are only to be acquired by PRACTICE, it becomes concisely applicable to make such remarks, and inculcate such general instructions, as may be usefully retained in the memory of those, who, not feeling themselves too confident in their own ability, are content to avail themselves of information resulting from an experience of which they are not yet in possession. After all the trouble and expence of breaking horses, by the best and most expert professors in that way, yet there are numbers possess, by nature, and retain by habit and temper, faults and vices, not only unpleasant and inconvenient, but even unsafe and dangerous, to those who ride them. An impetuous, ill-tempered rider, who is always expecting his horse to do more than nature ever intended, will soon make the animal as petulant and refractory as himself: few passionate riders become good and humane horsemen; great patience, serenity, and some philosophy, is required to meet the variegated and unexpected vicissitudes unavoidably to be encountered in the field, as well as upon the road.

A hot, high-spirited horse, and a fiery, petulant rider, constitute a paradoxical, heterogeneous connection; for as they support a perpetual war between them, and neither feels disposed to submit, so they continue to irritate and render each other worse than they were before. A horse, from natural sagacity, soon discovers the mildness and placidity of his rider, proportioning his own obedience and docility accordingly; of which greater proof need not be adduced, than his absolutely following the master or servant from whom he receives good usage, as well as his being left at different doors totally unconfined, in the midst of populous streets, and thronged with carriages, from whence he will not attempt to stir, till removed by the voice or hand to which he belongs. Horsemen of tenderness and reflection are ever attentive to the animal who contributes so much to their own health, happiness, or emolument; and omit no one opportunity, that presents itself, of promoting their ease and comfort in return. If the horse, from natural shyness and timidity, or probably from ill usage in the possession of a former master, is alarmed at the sight or motion of stick or whip, a rider of this description quiets his fears, by letting it gradually decline behind his own thigh near the flank of the horse: the fool, or the madman, brandishes it before his eyes, in confirmation of his own ignorance or insanity.

Horses who are addicted to starting, do it from fear, and not from opposition; the recollection of which should instantly excite a consideration of pity and tenderness in the rider; but it is much to be regretted, so great is the depravity of the human mind, that nine times out of ten, this very fear (the palpable effect of constitutional timidity) is productive of the most severe and unmerited punishment. It is no uncommon thing to see a much greater brute than the animal he bestrides, most unmercifully beating, whipping, and spurring, a poor creature, for possessing a sensation in common with ourselves. If every one of the human species were to be beat, bruised, and crippled, for being justly alarmed at the appearance of danger, or the sight of unnatural and unexpected objects of surprize, our hospitals could never prove sufficiently capacious to receive half the patients that would be daily presented for admission. If caution, and the apprehension of danger, is thus instinctively interwoven with the very frame of MAN, is it not natural that the HORSE (who has likewise the power of seeing, hearing, and feeling) may be equally alarmed at, and afraid of, impending destruction? Will any, but the most incredulous STOIC, presume to argue, or to doubt, that the horse has not the same susceptibility of pain, and the same dread of dissolution, as ourselves? Has he not the same degree of precaution and circumspection in avoiding calamity when it depends upon himself? Has he not the same fear of being crushed to atoms by the weight of any superior power suspended above himself? Has he not the same fear of being drowned? Is he not equally alarmed if even gently led to the brink of an awful precipice, and does he not instantly retreat with horror? Is he not terrified, even to a deprivation of motion, at the sight of fire? Why then can it create surprize, that he should be afraid of, and alarmed at, a high-loaded broad-wheel waggon upon a narrow road, whose ponderous summit seems to threaten his probable and speedy annihilation?

If then it is thus clearly demonstrated, and must be candidly admitted, that the true cause of a horse's STARTING is fear, what magical effect is violence on the part of the rider to produce? Nothing can more forcibly evince the passion, folly, ignorance, and inhumanity, of the lower classes, than the prevalence of this practice. That horses may be made to pass objects of dislike and dread by such means is not to be disputed; it is only presumed that lenity, patience, and mild persuasion, are the most preferable, and by far the most gentleman-like of the two. It is the business of the rider to conquer, and become master of his horse; but violent passion, and coercive measures, need not be resorted to, till the more lenient attempts have failed. Notwithstanding the idea here inculcated, of not violently and suddenly pressing a horse up to a carriage, waggon, or any other object at which he has started, it is necessary he should be made to know he must pass it, which he may be made to do by a modulated tone of the voice, a moderate and judicious use of the rein, and a proper pressure of one or both legs, as well, or better, than by any forcible means whatever.

The use of the LEGS is a very important consideration, not only in the due correction of a HORSE that starts, but in the AIRS taught in the MANEGE; where the horse is supported and helped by the hands and legs in every action required, from whence he is technically said to perform his airs by AIDS from the rider. When a horse, in starting, begins to fly on one side, for the purpose of turning from the object he wishes to avoid, the instantaneous, strong and sudden pressure of the leg on that side counteracts his spring, and, with the joint exertion of the rein and wrist, immediately brings him straight; at which moment, the same use being made of both legs, as was just before made with one, he has no alternative, but to submit to the determined correction, and soon passes the object of dread or dislike, and proceeds in the way he is required. As the legs are of great utility in the PROPER management of a horse, so they are the very reverse, if improperly brought into action. Nothing sooner denotes the inability of a rider, than to see the legs swinging like a pendulum, and alternately beating against the sides of the horse: if he is a spirited horse, and well broke, he conceives himself intentionally excited to brisker action; if, on the contrary, he is a dull and sluggish goer, it only adds to his habitual callosity.

Humanity having been already mentioned as one of the leading qualifications necessary to constitute the character of a perfect HORSEMAN, or true SPORTSMAN, (which are nearly synonimous), it invariably prompts each to insure, upon all occasions, the necessary comforts for his HORSE, before he bestows a single thought upon his own. It has been wisely observed, that the man who rides fast without a motive, never affords himself time for reflection; and that he who is always in a GALLOP, is either a fool or a madman. These remarks probably originated in an observation resulting from experience, and tolerably correct in the application; that those who ride hardest, are generally the most indifferent about the CARE of their HORSES. Those who act prudently, and with a proper attention to their own interest, will occasionally condescend to take a survey of the stable management within, as well as the enjoyment of pleasure without; upon the old and well-founded maxim, that "the master's eye makes the work light;" with the additional advantage of most probably keeping disease at a distance. The same degree of discretion which regulates the conduct of the young and inexperienced SPORTSMAN in one respect, will regulate it in another: having the health and safety of his horse at heart, he will never hurry him for the first hour in the morning, till time and gentle action has enabled him to unload his carcase; he will never make unreasonably long stages upon the ROAD; ride races, or take unnecessary leaps in the FIELD: at the conclusion of the JOURNEY or CHASE, he will see, that whatever he may think necessary to be done, is so, without implicitly relying upon imaginary punctuality, in ordering it to be done by OTHERS. These suggestions, however, apply more to INNS upon the road, and the LIVERY STABLES in the METROPOLIS, than to the private stables, and regular establishments, of gentlemen having servants of reputation, upon whose fidelity they can fix a firm reliance.

HORSE-SHOE

—is a plate of iron mechanically constructed for the preservation of the foot, and formed of different sizes and thickness, according to the substance, weight, and work, of the horse for whom it is made. See Shoeing and Smith.