New Orleans daily crescent., 1860-08-08
EIorsenanship.

In an interesting article on fox x-hunting, the Lon
don Quarterly Review gives some excellent hints
on horsemanship, one or two OF which Will not
come anliss to riders who are not fox hunters.
Feur.ffths Of the art of hersemanship depends on
attaining proper seat, and onefifth on possessing
pair OF light hands. The generality OF riders are
ant to sit on their horses in bent attitude, and
when a man rides in this toadlike position, he
travels always ready at moments notice, To de- 2
scribe parabolic curve over his horses head
should the animal take notion to stumble and
fall and the result is likely to be concnssion Of
his brain or dslocation of his neck--the horse
standing by uniniured. On the other hand, whena
man sits upright, evenly balanced on his saddle,
any sudden jerk or movement forward throws his
shoulders backward. If the horse falls the animal
forms the sole sufferer; the fore part Of his body
becomes buffer preventing the eoneussion from
iniuring, In the smallest degree, the rider II q
horse only trips rider justly poised in his saddle
can easily recover him. The instant he is down.
however the rider should vacate his saddle, the
momentum Of the animal will probably cause him
| 10 roll over.
| In leaning fence, too if the rider sits properly
| on his saddle, the horse and not he receives the
| conclusion of any fail that may ehsue, simply be-
cause the spring OF the animal, in taking the leap,
/ had thrown his shoulders backward, and ms head
out of danger; whereas, if the rider had assumed
| a bent attitude, his nose would have beea seen
| blowing mother earth the moment the mu1zle OF
I his horse impinged upon it.. In the year ls4s.
| Major General William Yorke Moore Of the British
army rode over preeipice OF 23I feet pefpead=
| ieular height on the island of Dominica and es
caned with his life, although every bone in his
| horses body was broken. The accident oeeuffea
| in the evening, Three men had previously been
| dashed to pieces at the same place, and ianrth
met similar fate subsequently, when the Colonial
| Assembly took measures to prevent such catas7
| trophies. -, ,z#,
gallop down turf hill with as much rapldlty a.
along n race course He should be encouraged,
nv A loose rein TO carry his head rs low n p4ssl
bic to enable him to take care OF his feet and IN
case of treading on rolling stone TO feeoVefn ms
al vfy1frit
; the instinct and example Of the horse, throws ms
| vveight backward the descent can be made at con
siderable speed without the smallest danger. Inc
9 horse must not be allowed to attempt 70 descend
the sIone djaronay, as he will inevitably slip up
a an his Side His head must be guided straight on
ward but care taken not to induce INN 10 ralse 1t
- Seated in the attitude described Jack shirley,
= wb;nner.in to the TedWorIh hunt, was one day OBJ
seryed fixing piece of whip-cofd to his lash
. while following his hounds at slapping pace,
! down hill, with a large open elasp-knife in his
mouth, his reins lying nearly loose on his horse
neck.
Another advantage Of riding in upright po
sition is that after while the muscles Of q rider
lose their elasticity by getting tired aud 1t becomes
i impossible for him to prevent his BODY undulatihg
To the infinite relief of both parties. with every
movement of the horse; whereas IL, like an Englisl
= iocky he rides like frog on shovel, he lntilcr
- upon his whole frame, well as upon the poo
animal that carries him, an amount OF nnneeessar.
. fatigue that prematurely tires both
: Another qualification of Il good harseman-
- - especially in fox hunting when fields and pasture
4 are to be ridden oyer--is to allow the morse
" carry his head at its natural level and not 10 rel
it M as is the general CUSTOM SO that he will los
the habit of using his eyes 10 ascertain the ebsra
ter of the ground over which he is travel,ng.
given free scope in this respect, the morse ",
easily avoid holes, stones and other dangerous OF
y strnctiops even in fields and woods, and If n
m reined up at chance stumble will learn TO q
do, pend on himself and rarely fall if he happens
! make misstep.