otograph is probably unique. It ought to
be a better one, seeing the trouble I took to make my obstinate mount
stand still; but he seemed to regard the camera as an infernal machine
destined for his destruction, and flatly refused to pose nicely for his
portrait. He was far too neck-strong to make a pleasant mount for a
lady. Kickers, as I have already said, should never be taken into any
hunting field.

[Illustration: Fig. 146.--Riding mountain zebra.]

BUCK-JUMPING.

Under this heading I shall include the minor vices of plunging and
"pig-jumping." Bucking is all but unknown among English and Eastern
horses, but is seen to its highest perfection among Australian and New
Zealand animals, especially those that have been allowed their liberty
up to a comparatively late period of life, say, four years old. I have
ridden some buck-jumping Argentine horses which were expert performers:
many of the wild Russian steppe horses are very bad buck-jumpers. Some
English horses, especially thoroughbreds, can give a very fair
imitation of this foreign equine accomplishment. I remember riding a
steeple-chase horse called Emigrant, which placed quite enough strain
both on me and my girths when he was first called upon to carry a
side-saddle. If a horse has any buck in him, the side-saddle will be
almost certain to bring it out; for with it the animal requires to be
girthed up extra tightly; the balance strap "tickles and revolts" him,
the lady's weight is farther back than on a man's saddle, and the
unusual feeling of carrying a rider whose legs are placed on one side,
tends to irritate a highly sensitive horse. If an animal, on being
saddled, gets his "back up," he should not be mounted until this certain
indication of the buck that is in him has been removed, which may be
done by either circling him with the long reins, or letting a groom run
him about a little until his back goes down. A cold saddle and a chilly
day will often cause a horse to come out of his stable with his back in
bucking position, and, unless a lady knows her animal well, it is best
to get it down before she mounts, because he may buck as she is in the
act of placing her right leg over the crutch--a part of mounting which
animals that are unaccustomed to it greatly dislike, as, I suppose, they
think she is going to give them a kick on the head!

As I used to do the rough-riding for my husband on his horse-breaking
tours in various countries, I have had to s