till the horse guesses his meaning.

CHAPTER V.

THE SEAT.

There is one direction which applies to all seats.--Different seats for
different styles of riding.--The manege and the Eastern seats are the
extremes.--The long stirrup is necessary for cavalry to act in
line.--Medium length of stirrup for common riding.

[Sidenote: One direction for all seats.]

There is one direction which, I think, applies to all seats. Turn the
thigh from the hip, so as to bring the hollow to the saddle; this places
the foot straight to the front, with the heel out and the toe in.
Trotting without stirrups, on the thigh only, with the heel down and the
toe up, shoulders back, a snaffle-rein in each hand, like a rough-rider
(Fig. 13), is the best possible practice for sitting.

[Sidenote: Different seats for different styles of riding.]

[Sidenote: Manege and Eastern seats the extremes.]

Farther than this I abstain from giving any particular directions about
the seat; because, though I consider the rules here laid down for the
hands as applicable to every species of riding (I have excepted the
soldier with his weapon in his right hand), I think there is a peculiar
seat proper to many different styles of riding. The extremes of these
are the manege and the Eastern styles, both admirable in their way, and
perfectly practical, but each wholly inapplicable to the performances of
the other.

[Sidenote: Long stirrups are necessary for cavalry.]

What can be more perfect than the seats of M. de Kraut and the Marquis
de Beauvilliers, in De la Gueriniere's work, or the engraving of M. de
Nestier? But I do not think that a man in such a seat would look well,
or perform well, in a five-pound saddle, over the beacon course: still
less that he could lay the reins on the neck of a well-bred horse, and
at full speed lie along his horse's side, and with his own body below
his horse's back, prime and load a long Persian gun, jump up and use
both hands to fire to the right or left, or over his horse's croupe; or
that he could wield a long heavy lance with the power of a Cossack; or
at full gallop hurl the djerrid to the rear with the force of a Persian,
and again, without any diminution of speed, pick it from the ground. On
the other hand, his peculiar seat renders the Eastern horseman so
utterly helpless in the performances of the manege, that he is unable to
make his horse rein back, or _pass_ sideways a step. And I have seen