When the groom presents the horse to his
						rider, we take no exception to his understanding how to cause the horse to
						crouch, for convenience in mounting. We think, however, that the rider
						should get used to mounting even without his horse’s help. For a rider gets
						a different sort of horse at different times, and the same one does not
						always serve him in the same way. We will now describe what the rider should do
						when he has received his horse and is going to mount, if he is to make the
						best of himself and his horse in riding. First, then, he must hold the lead-rope
						fastened to the chin-strap or the nose-band cavesson. See Anderson in J.H.S. 80.3-6. ready in
						the left hand, and so loose as not to jerk the horse whether he means to
						mount by holding on to the mane near the ears or to spring up with the help
						of the spear. With his right hand let him take hold of the reins by the
						withers along with the mane, so that he may not jerk the horse’s mouth with
						the bit in any way as he mounts.