Seat (equestrian)

“ In the flying leap, the seat is to be preserved as in the standing leap; except, that it is needless, and, indeed, unwise, to advance the body as the horse rises: because, in the flying leap, the horse’s position, especially in a low leap, is more horizontal than when he rises at the bar from a halt; and there is great danger of the rider being thrown, if she lean forward, in case the horse suddenly check himself and refuse the leap ”

“ If hands and legs are used to correct faults of seat, the horse cannot be light in hand. Bad seat, bad hand, bad legs; good seat, good hands, good legs; accurate seat, accurate hand, accurate legs — it all sums up in the words, "equestrian tact." Any horse, well conformed and well ridden, is always light in hand. ”

“ It is said, that when a lady, while her horse is going at a smart trot, can lean over, on the right side, far enough to see the horse’s shoe, she may be supposed to have established a correct seat; which, we repeat, she should spare no pains to acquire. ”

“ The body should always be in a situation, as well to preserve the balance, as to maintain the seat.
One of the most common errors committed by ladies on horseback, who have not been properly taught to ride is hanging by the near crutch, so that, instead of being gracefully seated in the centre of the saddle, with the head in its proper situation, and the shoulders even, the body is inclined to the left, the head is brought to the right by an inelegant bend of the neck, the right shoulder is elevated, and the left depressed. ”

“ By the direction and motion of the horse’s legs the balance is governed. If the animal be either standing still, or merely walking straight-forward, the body should be preserved in the simple position which we have directed the lady to assume on taking her seat. Should it be necessary to apply the whip, so as to make the animal quicken his pace, or to pull him in suddenly, the body must be prepared to accommodate itself to the animal’s change of action. ”

“ The style of a man’s seat must, to a certain extent, be settled by his height and shape. A man with short round legs and thighs cannot sit down on his horse like [119] tall thin men, such as Jim Mason, or Tom Oliver, but men of the most unlikely shapes, by dint of practice and pluck, go well in the hunting-field, and don’t look ridiculous on the road.
There are certain rules laid down as to the length of a man’s stirrup-leathers, but the only good rule is that they should be short enough to give the rider full confidence in his seat, and full power over a pulling horse. ”

“ The jockey seat is the extreme type of the first-named condition, the armor-clad knight an extreme type of the latter. The length of the stirrup leathers will be right when the tread of the iron strikes the heels. When the rider's feet are inserted in the stirrups, it will be found that without effort they are parallel with the sides of the horse, and very slightly in rear of the perpendicular. From this erect position upon his buttocks, together with the grasp of the knees and thighs, the rider has the strongest and best possible seat that can be obtained through weight, balance, and friction ”

“ Throughout the United Kingdom, civilians of all classes, gentlemen, farmers, and yeomen, especially those who occasionally follow the hounds, adopt what is commonly called "the hunting seat," in which, instead of "the fork," the knees form the pivot, or rather hinge, the legs beneath them the grasp, while the thighs, like the pastern of a horse, enable the body above to rise and fall as lightly as a carriage on its springs.
In this attitude the rider cannot turn his body to the right or left, or look behind him as easily as he could revolve upon his "fork." ”

“ The teamster who used to walk on the left of his horses, so as to lead them out of the way when occasion required, still walks on the left, which now puts him in the middle of the road; the coachman still sits on the right, though the probability of contact has changed over to the other side; the lady’s seat is still on the left side of the horse, which obliges her to choose between the danger of being caught by passing wheels or crushed by the horse of her escort. ”

“ The most important thing in horsemanship is the acquirement of a stable seat, for without it not only is the rider insecure, but it is impossible that the hand should act with lightness and precision if his seat is so feeble that under any circumstances he should depend upon the reins for maintaining his position on the horse.
Whether it be for pleasure, sport, or war, a man has one seat that is the best possible. ”

“ It is necessary, first, to have a firm seat; secondly, a skillful hand on the rein. One should sit in the middle of the saddle, in an easy, natural position, with the body not stiff but supple and responsive to the motion of the horse. ”

“ Your seat is not less awkward and difficult; for the skin of the ox, unlike that of the horse, is loose, and, notwithstanding your saddle may be tightly girthed, you keep rocking to and fro like a child in a cradle. ”

“ The cowboy's seat, his ease in the saddle, would make a poor showing in a riding academy or in a cavalry school. Yet the park rider and the soldier would be helpless on the range. The cow-puncher of the plains and the Cossack of the steppes are said to be the best riders in the world, yet each has a different saddle and seat. An exchange of equipment makes poor riders of both of them. ”

“ When the saddle is on the horse, the lowest part of the seat should rather be behind its centre, as it is there that the weight of the body should fall, and by that means the thighs can keep their proper position. The best test of the adaptation of the seat is, when the rider, without stirrups or effort, easily falls into his proper place in the saddle. ”

“ Again, it is much easier for the horse, having your weight fairly distributed, not all perched on one side. Your seat is much firmer; leaping is, oh, so easy; in fact, your power seems doubled in every way. In case of conflict with your horse, you feel a veritable centaur compared with the side seat, where you have no grip, only the aid of the saddle, but with the aid of your own knees and a foot on each side of the horse I think I could not be thrown. ”

“ The grande route winding, passes directly in its front, and the precipice is scarcely pleasant with a starting horse, particularly as the carters we meet crack their whips at me, kindly 114 curious to know whether the lady’s seat is as unsafe as strange. ”

“ The secret of secure and graceful riding is a correctly balanced seat in the saddle, one perfectly independent of reins or stirrup, and without exaggerations of any kind, whether the carelessness or indifference of the instinctive rider, or the affected, pedantic stiffness of the antiquated haut école. While maintaining a free, easy, yet elegant attitude, the rider should present to the spectator such an appearance of security and perfect equilibrium that it will seem as if no conflicting movements of the horse could throw her from the saddle. ”

“ In the lady’s endeavours to retain her foot in the stirrup, her weight must preponderate on the left side; if the stirrup be too short, it necessarily gives a rolling motion to her body, destructive alike to grace, elegance, and security of seat, and will prevent her seating herself sufficiently back in her saddle. ”

“ In this gait it is unimportant with which leg the horse leads, provided the advance of the hind-leg on the same side as that of the leading one be made correspondingly. It is advisable that every lady rider should learn to sit the flying gallop, as she will then be better able to maintain her seat, and to manage her horse should she ever have the misfortune to be run away with. ”

“ A correct seat is very seldom attained by the self-taught lady rider, for her attitude on the horse is so artificial that she cannot, like the gentleman rider, whose seat is more easy and natural, fall directly into the proper position. Competent instruction alone can enable her to gain the safe and easy posture which will give the least possible fatigue to herself and to her horse. ”

“ Instead of a loop to be passed around the adventurer’s body, a very different mode for his making descent has been pre-arranged. He is to take seat in the saddle, just as though it were on the back of a horse, and, with feet in the stirrups and hands clutching the cords that suspend it, be so let down. ”

“ The rough-riders from the Royal Artillery Riding Establishment, using the hunting seat, sat perfectly without either reins or stirrups over a five-foot six-inch rail—one horse jumping six feet—besides other formidable obstacles, which proves that no better seat could be wanted for practical work. ”

“ The cowboy's, or military, seat is much simpler and easier for both man and beast than the Park seat—though, of course, less stylish. That is the glory of it; you can go galloping over the prairie and uplands with never a thought that the trot is more proper, and your course, untrammelled by fenced-in roads, is straight to the setting sun or to yonder butte. ”

“ The English found the most secure seat for vigorous leaping to be the long one. Of course a little obstacle can be cleared in any saddle; but with the long seat, the violent exertion of the horse in a high jump does not loosen the grip with knees and calves, but at most only throws one's buckskin from the saddle, as indeed it should not even do that. ”

“ Two sentences are sufficient to explain all to the rider, and he will get a good seat by the simple advice of the instructor.
The seat of the rider.—The rider will expand his chest as much as possible, so that each part of his body rests upon that next below it, for the purpose of increasing the adhesion of his buttocks to the saddle; the arms will fall easily by the sides. The thighs and legs must, by their own strength, find as many points of contact as possible with the saddle and the horse's sides; the feet will naturally follow the motion of the legs. ”

“ The rider, under these conditions, feels in his seat the squareness and equality both of the different strides and of each step. The horse gives a light and agreeable contact upon the hand, the head and neck are perfectly steady and yet firm, while the rider feels that, with the least tension on the reins, the neck will flex like an elastic band. All the time he feels in his seat that, with the least shifting of his weight or the slightest alteration in legs, hand, body, or head, the equilibrium will vanish. The animal moves between the rider and the ground, rhythmically. ”

“ In most instances, a faulty position in the saddle, an unsteadiness of seat, and a lack of sympathy between horse and rider, occasion in the mind of the spectator a sense of uneasiness lest the horse, in making playful movements, or, perhaps, becoming slightly fractious, may unseat his rider,—a feeling which quite destroys the charm and fascination she might otherwise exercise. ”

“ If the rider will seat herself in the saddle in the manner just described, she will find that she has a very firm seat, from which she cannot easily be displaced; but in order to appear graceful she must be flexible, and adapt herself readily to the motions of her horse. The shoulders, for example, although thrown back, must not be rigid, and the body, while erect, must be supple ”

“ In order to aid and support her horse at a leap, the rider should bring him straight up to the obstacle at a slow and regular gait, and should put her own right foot very far back, that she may make her seat as firm as possible ”

“ The rider will then lose his seat, to the right or to the left, as far as he may without falling, and regain the saddle by a twist of the body and buttocks and grasp of the thighs, without taking any assistance from his hands. This exercise is valuable in giving the rider the power of regaining his seat, should it be by chance disturbed, without pulling on the mouth of the horse. ”

“ The first thing for a rider to do is to place herself in a thoroughly comfortable position on the saddle. She should sit well down in it, in the same manner as she would sit on a chair in which she wished to lean back, and would thus get her seat well under her, and would be able to obtain, when required, a strong grip of the crutches. ”

“ For hunting we must have comfort, without, of course, any undue violation of smartness. Besides, a certain amount of dip in the seat, similar to that shown in Fig. 16, is an aid to security. A cutback pommel (Fig. 11) improves the look of a side-saddle without diminishing the rider’s grip. The seat on the near side should be eased off, so as to allow the rider’s left leg to get close to the horse; and the near side, close to the cantle, should be made a little higher than the off side, in order to correct any tendency there may be to sit too much over on the near side. ”

“ The Englishman's method and seat for cross-country riding is undeniably the best, and perhaps is hardly to be criticised. But a good seat or hands for hunting are not necessarily good for all other saddle work. ”

“ In the matter of the horse's gait you must be equally exacting, not resting so long as you can perceive the slightest irregularity or difference between the strides. It is desirable to cultivate such a sensitiveness to all the horse's movements as will enable you to know where his feet are at all times without looking, and the first step towards this is to learn to "sit close to the saddle." This firm and easy seat, coveted by every rider, is attained by some with much greater difficulty than by others. ”