round his neck and bring my head to the right ; consequently, the horse's head was against my left shoulder. I subsequently saw the inconvenience of this position, in which one is too far forward on his neck when he brings his fore legs down on the ground. And as we are then obliged to give him his head, he is at liberty to send us over his ears by a strong kick with both hind legs, or to give us a blow in the face or chest with his head, in the event of his throwing it up.

From a very long experience I have found the following to be the best means of avoiding accidents which may happen from rearing. Separate the reins—as one should always do, when a horse rears—and take hold of the mane in the left hand at about the middle of the neck. When the horse stands up on end, bring the body well forward by the left arm ; and when he comes down again, push the body back into its place by quickly straightening that arm. If the animal makes another attempt at rearing, again bring the body forward, again push it back ; and so on, until he ceases to rear. From the moment we stop trying to make the horse go forward, we are able by this means to put up with the horse's rearing for any length of time without difficulty. If he kicks, our straightened-out arm will act as a prop, and if he springs to the right about or left about, it will furnish a support which will keep us in the saddle, and will enable us to avoid hanging on to the reins, which is the usual cause of accidents. I feel certain that the foregoing position is the best for keeping the rider in the saddle, when a horse rears, or, rather, it is the least bad, because the position of the rider is never good in such a case.

I have had good luck with regard to rearing ; for although I have ridden a great number of rearers, none of them has upset me.

I do not believe that horses voluntarily throw themselves backwards. As far as I can see, they simply lose their