Breaking a leg

[wsanto]

Do you always approach a horse from the horse's left side?

Yes always from the left. BettyO wrote a while back about the riding style at this time. It was a little different than how we ride horses now. I can't remember under what topic she wrote it though. Betty, if your out there listening.....

Thanks. I've been on a horse less times than the number of fingers I type with.

Makes sense with my recollection of western movies. It seems like they always approach the horse from the left in my memory.

[Gene C]

wsanto, Nice avatar, it's nice to see another kindred spirit

Fido

[Jim Garrett]

You always mount up from the left. I don't know why, but it just doesn't work to mount from the right.

[JMadonna]

You always mount up from the left. I don't know why, but it just doesn't work to mount from the right.

For what it's worth, I believe it was because of the sword soldiers carried mandated the left side mount and over the centuries it became inbred in the horses' brain.

[wsanto]

wsanto, Nice avatar, it's nice to see another kindred spirit

Fido

Thanks,

Django

[BettyO]

What a beautiful dog in your Avatar! What breed is he? I notice he has one blue and one brown eye.

I had a pinto horse like that - one blue eye and one brown.... a "wall eye" they call it in horses....

---

Jerry, you are correct - mounting from the left is derived from ancient or medieval times regarding the swords men wore, usually on their left side. One mounted one's horse from the left (or "near" side of a horse) in order to avoid striking the horse with the flat of the sword and spooking him. The right side of the horse is also called the "off" side.

In the 19th Century one rode with longer stirrups and not with the knee bent as much as they do nowadays -

Civil War Soldier's Leg on Horseback

Modern Leg position on Horseback

A GOOD example of 19th Century riding styles is to take a look at John Wayne in True Grit. When he jumps the fence, his leg is fairly straight and he leans back. Same with GWTW - watch "Gerald O'Hara" (actor Thomas Mitchell) jump his white horse (actually the Lone Ranger's Silver) in the opening sequences of the movie - same effect - fairly straight legs and leaning back. Today, riders lean forward with cocked legs -

Victorian Rider Going over a Fence

Modern Rider Going Over a Fence

Supposedly the current "monkey on a stick" style of riding race horses changed in the late 1890s when jockey Tod Sloan developed the present style of riding in order to facilitate a more aerodynamic style of riding racers. By the way, just for fun, Sloan was the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" James Cagney sings about in the movie of the same name!

[Laurie Verge]

I have also been told by an experienced, trained rider that someone in as good physical condition as Booth and as athletic by nature (as shown in his "stunt man" escapades on stage) as well as being an experienced rider could have mounted the mare by grabbing the horn (is that what it's called) of the saddle and throwing himself into the saddle without ever putting his foot in the stirrup.

I have also heard recently the story of the Booth spooking the horse when he ran out and that the horse shied with Booth having to bring it under control while having only one leg in the stirrup. Where does this "fact" come from? There are only two people who could have testified this - Peanuts and Stewart. I do not remember Peanuts saying such a thing; and from what I recall, Stewart got out the door in time to see Booth on horse racing down the alley.

Sometimes I think we are doing what some did before us - something we complain about today. Theories and wrong information are put into publication without factual verification. I know this can be human nature or trickiness to prove a point, but...

[wsanto]

What a beautiful dog in your Avatar! What breed is he? I notice he has one blue and one brown eye.

Thanks BettyO-- He is a mixed breed. 3/4 Australian Shephard and 1/4 Big dog (probably Bull Mastiff). His coloring is Blue Merle. He has a Blue Merle Collie for a stepbrother. He was named Django 11 years ago--well before the new movie "Django Unchained" is due to hit theatres.

[BettyO]

Thanks BettyO-- He is a mixed breed. 3/4 Australian Shephard and 1/4 Big dog (probably Bull Mastiff). His coloring is Blue Merle.

Blue Merle's are beautiful! I have a friend who has a blue merle Australian Shephard!! Blue Merle Collie's are beautiful, too! It's almost equivalant to a blue roan horse! Thanks wsanto!

I have also been told by an experienced, trained rider that someone in as good physical condition as Booth and as athletic by nature (as shown in his "stunt man" escapades on stage) as well as being an experienced rider could have mounted the mare by grabbing the horn (is that what it's called) of the saddle and throwing himself into the saddle without ever putting his foot in the stirrup.

Laurie -- Booth's saddle would not have had a horn - that's a western saddle, but he more or less would have grabbed the pommel or front of the saddle which was quite high on a Victorian saddle.... good chance that he could have mounted that way, but grabbing the pommel and pulling himself up could also possibly loosen the belly-band or girth and that could be a real danger if the saddle became loose and slipped, causing it to swing aside or beneath the horse's belly! I highly doubt that happened however. I HAVE seen someone mount with only one foot in the stirrup while trying to control a horse - that DOES happen....

[asobbingfilm]

"I walked with a firm step through a thousand of his friends, was stopped, but pushed on. A colonel was at his side. I shouted Sic semper before I fired. In jumping broke my leg."

Although JWB claims to have shouted "SST" before he fired (not true it seems), I think he was truthfull in writing that he broke his leg jumping. It seems that the continuum is relevent. So I come down on the side of the box jump. (Plus its a better story)

[LincolnMan]

Interesting he would say he shouted SST before he fired. I wonder why he would claim that was the sequence? Maybe to make it appear to be less of a "sneak attack?"

[Laurie Verge]

For all we know, he may have shouted it twice - once in the box before he struck (thinking that it would be the last thing Lincoln heard) and again on stage to make sure that the audience knew why he had done it. None of the occupants in the box would likely have remembered it given the shock of the moment.

[Bill Richter]

Ok, now I generally agree one approaches and mounts from the left or near side. But there is an exception. Cowboys mount and dismount from either side especially when working cattle, especially when calf roping. You often see this in a rodeo arena.

I also happen to agree with Kauffman that Booth broke his leg somewhere after crossing the navy Yard Bridge and arriving at Surrattsville. As was said above one cannot mount with full pressure on the left leg if the leg is not intact. I theorized that Booth wrenched his back when he jumped from the box at Ford's. I believe that he complained to Mrs. Mudd about it when she went up to the second story bedroom the try to get him to eat something.

I also side with Laurie in the SST shout from the box and the stage at Ford's.

Yeah, I know. I am nuts as usual.

[HerbS]

Bill,Sometimes nuts is good! Your theory is solid!

[L Verge]

Bill is so used to me arguing the broken leg with him, but here goes again for the benefit of others: I have had 5-6 medical doctors tell me that the fibula is not a weight-bearing bone in the leg and that Booth would have been able to mount with that leg in the stirrup. I would agree that he might have also wrenched his back in the leap to the stage - or after riding thirty miles favoring an aching leg. We are just never going to know, are we? And Bill and I will continue to argue the point.

P.S. The only time Bill makes me mad is when he constantly puts himself down. He is one of the smartest individuals that I have ever met, and I wish I had had him as a prof in college.