that my modest advice may render such accidents rare in the future.

Standing on the stirrups is like standing on a spring-board, in which case, if any violent movement is produced by the horse, the rider is liable to be shot forward as if from a catapult, and always on to his head. Even when the horse plunges forward, the rider will be rarely unseated if he is sitting well into the saddle, with the weight resting on his seat. Then the worst thing that can happen to him is to be shifted on to the horse's neck, in which case he will fall softly ; but if he is bearing his weight on the stirrups, with his legs straight, nothing will be easier for the horse than to send him between his ears. When the rider adopts this faulty position, his body is carried forward, and the horse is able to plunge as he likes, on account of the weight being taken off his loins.

The rider who stands on his stirrups is in the position of a gymnast standing on the hands of a comrade, whose business is to give him the necessary propulsion for making a dangerous leap. In order for him to be projected very far, it is necessary for him to keep his body and legs straight, but if he bends his knees he cannot go far. The stirrups play a rôle similar to that of the hands of the gymnast who is ready to give the propulsion. Hence, if the rider bends his knees he will remain in the saddle.

We should bear in mind that if the pupil, before his legs have got well down, is allowed to use the stirrups, he will not be able to keep his feet in them. He will then make all sorts of contortions in order to retain them, in which case, not only the muscles of the legs, but also those of the body and face, will become contracted, and the neck and the shoulders will assume a characteristic form of stiffness.

Notwithstanding all the care which the teacher may take later on to correct these faults, the pupil very rarely succeeds