The Barb and the Bridle Part 5

A point of vital importance to be looked to by the master is that his pupil at her first attempt at cantering her horse is perfectly cool and self-possessed, and that she applies her aids _smoothly_, without hurry or excitement, for so great is the sympathy of the horse in this respect, that flurry on the part of the rider is sure to cause pa.s.sionate, excited action in the horse. The manner of the master has much to do with this; while it should be such as to keep his pupil and her horse _vif_ and on their metal, he should be careful not to crowd the former with too much instruction at once. Her position should be corrected before she is allowed to strike her horse off. Care should be taken that her arms are firm, and hands well back. The waist should be bent slightly forward, which will give it more suppleness. She should have a firm grip of the upper crutches, both heels well down, and at her first effort she should ride equally upon the snaffle and curb reins. To do this (a.s.suming that she is riding with her bridle in military form), it is only necessary that she should draw up the slack of the near-side snaffle rein with her right hand until it is level with and under the near-side curb rein; then carry the snaffle rein thus shortened over the middle joint of the forefinger of the left hand, and shut the thumb firmly on them. She can then place the slack of the off-side snaffle rein for a moment under the left thumb, while she places the rein between the third and little finger of the right hand, brings the rein through the full of the hand over the middle joint of the forefinger, and closes the thumb firmly on it. The whip should be held in the full of the hand, the point downwards.

With her hands and figure in the above-named form, the lightest application of the aids ought to strike her horse off "true and united;"

but if by any chance he takes off with the wrong leg or "disunited," as may sometimes happen with the best broken horse, from a little over-eagerness or anxiety on the part of the pupil, or a little unsteadiness of hand, the master should cause her to bring her horse again to the walk, and rea.s.sure her--taking care, however, on these occasions that she never "makes much of" or caresses her horse, which would tend to confirm him in a bad habit, but reins him back, and again puts him up to his bridle.

It is a rare occurrence when a horse (thoroughly well-broken) strikes off incorrectly; but I am endeavouring to write for every contingency.

a.s.suming the horse to have struck off smoothly to the instructor's word _Ca-a-n-te-r_--which should be given in a quiet, soothing tone of voice, and drawn out as if every letter were a syllable--the horse should be allowed to canter freely forward, although without rush or hurry. The pace should not be too collected at first; the military pace of manoeuvre is about the correct thing; eight miles an hour or thereabouts; the cadence true; the horse well ridden into his bridle, and in this case _yielding to the bit_--because, in cantering, it is necessary to have an _appui_ upon the mouth, quite different from that to be maintained in trotting, in which it is best for the lady that the horse should feel her hand fairly and firmly, and that there should be little "give-and-take" action of the latter. In cantering, on the other hand, an easy give-and-take play of the hands is indispensable, to cause the horse to bend in the poll of his neck, yield to the hand, and go in true form. By this time the pupil should have acquired sufficient firmness and _aplomb_ in the saddle to justify the instructor in commencing to impart to her that mobile action and flexibility of the upper arm at the shoulder joint, which may be regarded as the artistic finishing of her course of equitation. But it will not do to commence this (so goes my experience) at the outset of the cantering lesson, wherein at first it is best to insist upon firmness of the arms, otherwise the pupil is most likely (imperceptibly to herself) to allow her hands to glide forward, and thus destroy the flexibility of her waist, which is a point always to be most carefully watched. It is possible that at first the figure of the pupil, from over-anxiety to maintain her position and ride her horse correctly at the same time, may be somewhat rigid; but complete flexibility cannot be expected at once.

It must be remembered that, although the action of cantering in a horse is much easier than trotting, still it is novel to the rider, who moreover has to keep her horse up to his work.

It is not the case of putting a young lady upon an old t.i.ttuping hack that can do little else than canter along behind the bridle and "drag his toe" at a walk. A horse that has any action or quality in him, and has been taught to trot up to his bridle, requires "asking" to canter, and in the early efforts of the pupil requires keeping to his work a little after he has struck off in his canter, otherwise he will drop into a trot again. Such a horse, however, is the only one upon which to teach a lady to ride. The easy-going old hack above alluded to is fit only for an invalid to take the air on. At the same time it is asking a good deal from the pupil in her early cantering lessons to keep her horse up to his work, and to maintain her own position correctly; and if she exhibits a little stiffness or formality (if I may use the expression) at first, it may fairly be pa.s.sed over until increased confidence permits the master to give his attention to what I may perhaps call the "unbending" of his pupil. After a few days' cantering as above described, the lady may begin to collect her horse; and by this time also she should be fitted with a spur, of which the best I know is Latchford's patent. An opening in the skirt on the inside is necessary.

The shank of the spur should not be too short, otherwise it is very apt to cut holes in the habit. The pupil, when the spur is first fitted on, should be cautioned to keep her left toe as near the horse's side as the heel, in order to avoid hitting him when he does not require it; and, indeed, the wearing of the steel aid is in itself a good exercise as to the true position of the left leg, while the blunt head of a Latchford (when not pressed hard to the horse's side) does away with any danger.

The use of the spur in a lady's riding is objected to by some; but I cannot consider any rider (man or woman) worthy of the name who cannot use one and be safe enough in the saddle at the same time. One objection to spurs for ladies is, that they are apt to do all sorts of mischief in the event of the lady being thrown from her horse. Now, the latter is a contingency which (except in the hunting field) I do not admit as possible, if the lady has men about her who know their business in the horse way. If she has not such people about her, she is better without spurs decidedly; and there is another thing she is better without, namely, a horse of any sort.

If a horse is properly broken, and has a man about him who will give him plenty of work, and keep him from getting above himself, and his fair owner has been as well taught as her horse, she ought to be as safe on his back as in her brougham, in any kind of riding, except in exceptional cases in the hunting field. By exceptional cases I mean where a lady, unaccompanied by a good pilot, takes a line of her own when hounds are going fast in a big gra.s.s country, and rides (jealous of the field) at impracticable places. In such case she is likely enough to get down, horse and all. But even so--and I have witnessed more than one such accident--I have never found that the lady got hurt by the spur when she wore the sort I allude to; and again, I think it is only just to that clever loriner, Mr. Latchford, to say that he has invented a lady's stirrup which renders danger from it in the event of a fall next to impossible--certainly she cannot be dragged by it. In this stirrup there is no opening at the side by means of springs or complicated machinery of any sort. It requires neither diagram or drawing to describe it, because it is the perfection of mechanism--extreme simplicity. One has only to imagine an ordinary stirrup, rather elongated than usual from the opening for the leather, the bottom bar broad and flat; the latter perforated with two holes. Within the above-named stirrup another, a size smaller, but fitting nicely into it.

On the lower side of the bottom bar of the inner stirrup two projections, or obtuse points of steel, which fit into the holes of the lower bar of the outer stirrup. Now, as long as the lady is in her saddle the inner stirrup must, from its mechanism, remain in its place; but in the event of her being thrown her weight acts upon the lower part of the outer stirrup, which turns over and releases the inner stirrup entirely.

To return, however, to the question proper of spurs for a lady, I must say that they are of the greatest a.s.sistance to her when, having acquired the necessary degree of steadiness on her horse, she desires to "wake him up." Too much whip is a bad thing. In riding in the country a lady must perforce have to open a bridle gate sometimes for herself, and if she is always using a whip to liven her horse up, she will find it difficult to get him to stand still, even while she opens the lightest of gates. As regards the pupil in the school, I repeat she should be habituated to wear a spur as soon as her progress justifies it.

CHAPTER X.

THE CANTERING LESSON (_continued_).

Having satisfied himself as to the proficiency of his pupil in cantering "going large"--that is, round the school or _manege_,--the attention of the instructor should next be directed to teaching her to make the turns and circles, and execute the "half pa.s.sage" with precision.

The use of these exercises is to confirm (while riding upon both snaffle and curb reins) the steadiness of hand and seat and true balance of the rider, because, although these may appear good enough while a lady is riding her horse on a straight line, or only with the turns at the corners of the school, many shortcomings will be detected when she attempts to turn him square from the boards, or asks him to make a true circle, in which the hind legs follow exactly over the same track as the fore legs.

To commence this lesson in proper form, the pupil should collect her horse, by reining him quietly back, then move him forward well up to the hand, at a walk and at a smart active pace. When she arrives at the centre marker at the end of the school, the master should give the word "down the centre," when the rider should turn her horse square to the right (a.s.suming, as is usually the case, that she commences her lesson to that hand). The aids for turning at a walk having been already given, it is only necessary to say that the turn down the centre requires only a trifle stronger application of the left leg, to counteract any tendency of the horse to throw his haunches outwards, and that, looking steadily to the centre marker at the other end of the school, the pupil should sight that marker well between her horse's ears, and ride true and straight to it, taking care, by closing the leg in time, that the horse does not cut off any of the ground, but plants his near fore foot close to the boards and makes the corner equally square, because whenever a horse is allowed to "cut the corners off" he endeavours to get behind the bridle, and generally succeeds. The pupil, therefore, should be cautioned in time by the instructor, and if she fails to make good every inch of ground, the word "halt" should be given and the horse reined back. Arrived about midway down the school, the turns to the right should be made square from the boards, the horse's haunches kept under him so that he does not hit the side of the school with his hind feet. His doing which is at once a proof that he is out of hand. Arrived at the centre of the school, the words "right turn" should be given again, instead of allowing the pupil to ride right across the school to the boards on the opposite side. She should then ride a couple of lengths down the centre, and again turn her horse, by word from the master, square to the right, and once more to the left, when arrived at the boards. This, repeated two or three times, is a good preparation for executing the circle; in order to facilitate the correct riding of which, the master should cause his pupil to halt her horse at the side, and himself walk over the ground he desires her to ride over. If he does this correctly, the pupil will find little difficulty in riding the circle with precision.

Starting from a point close to the boards, a couple of horses' lengths in front of the pupil, the master should make an incline to the right, at an angle of about forty-five, until he is half-way between the boards and the centre of the school; he should then bring up his left shoulder, and make another incline at the same angle to the centre of the school.

Down the centre he should walk straight, the distance of a horse's length; again bring up his left shoulder, and make two inclines to the side. The figure he will thus describe does not quite represent a circle as he walks; but when the horse is called upon to move his fore and hind legs on the same track, it will be a circle in his case as nearly as possible. Having caused the pupil to move her horse forward, the instructor should give her the aids for circling, which are a double feeling of the inward rein, the horse well supported with the outward, and well kept up to the hand by the leg.

In circling to the right, the horse to be well bent to the right, so that the rider can see his inward eye; fore and hind legs moving exactly on the same track, the horse not throwing his haunches out. The great use of this circling is, that as the horse changes his direction no less than six times in a small s.p.a.ce, to keep him up to his work the lady must bring up her left shoulder as many times as the horse alters his direction. To do this, she must be quite supple in the waist, and circling is therefore a capital practice to insure this freedom of action at that portion of the figure. To render the lesson still more easy to the pupil, I have found it answer well, after walking over the ground, to mark it out on the tan with a stick. In military schools the circle to the right or left is followed by the "circle and change," in which, when arrived at the boards, the pupil, instead of turning the horse's head to the hand he is working to, changes the bend, and turns to the reverse hand. This, however, cannot be executed at a canter with due precision without the use of the right leg, and is therefore (in my opinion) better omitted in a lady's course of equitation, an additional reason being that, when she is taught to make the change at a canter, she can do it much more effectually and elegantly by the "half pa.s.sage."

The circles having been neatly done, the pupil should rein her horse back, put him well upon his haunches, and strike him off at a collected canter, about five miles an hour, the cadence true, the position of the rider correct.

It is at this point that the instructor should begin carefully to get his pupil to supple herself in the saddle, while she still rides her horse well up to his work. It should be borne in mind that a horse cannot make turns or circles at the "pace of manoeuvre" without considerable danger to himself and his rider, because at such a pace it is next to impossible to keep him fairly balanced, and he is liable, even on well-kept tan, to slip up, whereas at a very collected pace, with his haunches well under him, there is no danger whatever, although at first it will call very much upon the energy and close attention of the rider. Having her horse well into his bridle, the give-and-take action of the hand should now come gradually from the shoulder joint, and the pupil should be frequently reminded to avoid resisting the action of the horse in his canter, but to endeavour, on the other hand, to accompany him in his short stride. This is to be done by simply keeping both heels well down, the hands back, the waist bent slightly forward and perfectly supple, and avoiding too strong a grasp with the right leg upon the upper crutches of the saddle. The figure from the waist upwards, however, should be perfectly erect, leaning neither backwards nor forwards, either position being both unsafe and ungainly.

Nothing is more common than to see a lady sitting with the upper part of her figure bent forward in a canter, and, if not overdone, the effect is by no means ungraceful to the eye of a looker-on. But it is a habit likely to increase in degree, and unsafe in any case, because it is opposed to the principle of true balance.

With the shoulders well back, the body, neck, and head upright, the waist slightly bent forward, the hands well back, and acting by an easy play of the upper arm at the shoulder joint--sitting, in fact, with freedom in the saddle--the action of the horse at a collected pace will give the rider a slightly _gliding_ motion from the cantle towards the pummels, and gradually she will thus acquire the habit of suppling herself on her horse; ready, however, at any moment "to seize her seat"

(to use the expression of old Sam Chifney) by muscular grip if the horse flirts or plunges, which, however, it is difficult for him to do when going well within himself and up to his bridle.

The left leg at a canter should not be drawn back, as in trotting, but kept close to the horse's side, with the heel down, and the foot as nearly as possible under the knee. Of course, the above-described easy deportment in the saddle is not to be acquired in a single lesson; it requires considerable practice and close watching by both master and pupil. Once learnt, however, the lady has gained another important step in her equitation.

The length of time requisite to insure complete _souplesse_ at this point is dependent upon several circ.u.mstances, over which the master has only a moderate amount of control.

The figure of the pupil is an important point in the matter. If she is naturally lithe and has been well suppled on foot, the task will be considerably easier. If, on the contrary, she is of a square figure--short in the neck and waist, and stiff in the shoulders--considerably more time is requisite. But with care, attention, and perseverance it can be acquired by all in early youth.

I know a lady who rides with both dash and judgment with hounds who is anything but a good figure; but she began under proper tuition when she was very young, and, although no longer so, she has preserved the _souplesse_ and true balance acquired in her early days. Natural apt.i.tude, too, is of great a.s.sistance to both master and pupil, and should be energetically developed by the former; at the same time, care should be taken that the pupil does not overrun her lessons.

As an instance of what can be accomplished even at a first essay by a lady gifted with natural talent for riding, I cannot refrain from relating the following:--Some years ago I chanced to be at the school of a fashionable riding master in London, when a cla.s.s of young ladies was going through a ride. In the gallery from which I was observing them was also the mother of one of the young ladies who was riding, and of another much younger, who was standing by her side watching with the most intense interest the riding below. The younger lady was not more than ten or eleven years old, but of a form and figure exactly fitted for performing well in the saddle, being tall of her age, and lithe and supple in her movements. She did not speak, but I could see from the excitement of her manner, the glitter of her large dark eyes, and her changing colour, that she was heart and soul with the fair equestrians.

The ride finished with a leaping lesson, and there was some capital jumping over a gorsed bar, hurdles double and single, and an artificial brook. The last performance completely overcame the little spectator in the gallery. Bursting into a violent fit of sobbing and weeping, she clutched her mother's dress, and cried convulsively, "Dear mamma, let me ride, let me ride." The lady, quite surprised and very much affected by the emotion and excited state of the child, nevertheless, refused, declaring she was too young. But the young supplicant for equestrian honours was not to be denied; she continued to implore and weep, and, the riding master coming to her aid, the mother gave way. Her little daughter was put on a quiet horse, and the master himself led him round the school at a walk, but this by no means satisfied our ambitious little tyro. "Let me trot," she said; "I am sure I can trot." The professor was quite sure she could not, and told her so; and, to convince her, he started the horse trotting, and ran by his side. He was never more mistaken. The lessons the pupil had been witnessing from the gallery must have made a strong impression on her mind; for, to the surprise of all of us, she caught the action of the horse at the first step, and made the best attempt at trotting I ever saw for a beginner.

Feeling that trotting fatigued her, she asked to be allowed to canter, and this she did in very good form. But the crowning part of the thing was, that when we were about to take her off her horse, she begged to be allowed to have a jump. I confess, I thought the riding master wrong in consenting to this. But again our little friend electrified us all. A hurdle was put up, well sloped, so as to make the jump a very moderate one, the little pupil's hands placed, and her position rectified. No sooner had the horse turned the corner of the school, and before the riding master had time to check her, than the girl's eye lit up just as I had seen it in the gallery. She caught the horse fast by the head, hit him with her heel, put down her hands, and sat as though she had been hunting for years. It was too late to stop her, and any interference at the moment would have done more harm than good. With my heart in my mouth, I saw the horse go at the hurdle. He was one that had "an eye in every toe," and did not know how to make a mistake. But his daring little rider had roused him thoroughly, and he jumped high enough to clear a big fence, and far enough to take him over a small brook. Just as the horse took off, I shouted involuntarily, "Sit back;" and the little enthusiast answered as though my voice had been inspiration. Her lithe little figure was bent from the waist, precisely at the right moment; and she landed safe, except that the concussion threw her slightly up in the saddle. Her marvellous apt.i.tude (talent the professionals would have called it) induced the riding master to let her make another attempt, and this time, putting her horse at the hurdle at the same dashing pace (which, by the way, with her wonderful nerve and confidence, made it easier for her), she sat in the saddle, as the old groom who tended the hurdles said, "as if she had grown there," and landed fair and true without jolt or concussion.

This young lady is now one of the most brilliant horsewomen in England.

Her genius (if I may be permitted the expression), joined to close application and the best of opportunities of riding good horses, enabled her in a brief s.p.a.ce to far outstrip all her youthful compet.i.tors, and in less than twelve months after the time I speak of she could execute most of the "bending lesson," at a canter as well as a professional rider, while over the country with hounds she was always close to her pilot, than whom there was no better man. This when she was barely thirteen years old.

Such instances of extraordinary apt.i.tude, nerve and courage, combined with the necessary elasticity and physical power to ride, are very rare indeed; in fact, in a long experience of such matters, I do not know of a parallel case. Nevertheless, if the natural dash and fitness for riding possessed by this young lady had not been carefully watched, moulded into proper form, and restrained within due bounds, they would inevitably have run riot with her, and brought her to grief. It is in such cases as the above, or rather such as tend in that direction, that the tact and judgment of a riding master is required. If the young lady I speak of had been allowed, and the opportunity had offered, she would have mounted without hesitation any brute that would carry a saddle, and mischief, of course, would have resulted.

To return to the cantering lesson proper. When the instructor has succeeded in completely regulating the cadence of the horse in his pace and the position of his pupil, he should give her due caution to wait for the _last sound_ of his word, to keep her body back and her leg close, supporting the horse well with the outward rein, and he should then give the word, well drawn out, gently and without hurry, "right turn," when the pupil should turn her horse from the boards with the same aids as at a walk, but more firmly applied, and if the horse leans upon her hand she should keep him up with her spur.

"Many a horse" (says the "Aid Book") "keeps a tolerable canter on a straight line, but when turned he feels too much constraint laid upon him, and leans upon the rider's hand. If at such a moment the rider yields the reins instead of closing the hand firmly on them, turning the little fingers up towards the waist, and closing the leg firmly, the horse comes upon his forehand."

Concise as the above pa.s.sage is, it describes exactly what occurs on first making a turn at a canter, and it calls upon all the energy and attention of the pupil to keep the horse up to his work. But as in other exercises in the course of equitation, her reward will be in her thorough command over her horse under all circ.u.mstances, because by learning to ride him with such minute precision she is always able to antic.i.p.ate his every movement.

The first three or four turns at a canter should be made square across the school, from side to side, and no second word should be given on arriving at the boards; the pupil turning her horse again to the right without any caution, and continuing to "go large" round the school until she again gets the word to turn. This practice will teach her to be constantly on the alert, and to maintain such a balance as will enable her in turning to move exactly on the same line as her horse, bringing her left shoulder up precisely at the right moment.

Three or four turns are quite sufficient for the first lesson, because the horse before completing these must go several times round the school, and the pupil should ride him well up to his bit. After a few turns, smoothly and correctly made, the pupil should bring her horse to the walk, halt, make much of him, and sit at ease.

Making much of a horse when he has performed well is always a judicious mode of letting him know that he has been doing right; at the same it affords him an interval of rest, which is quite necessary. This may appear absurd to those who are accustomed to see horses continue galloping for hours. But it must be remembered that the sort of work I have been endeavouring to describe is altogether artificial; that the animal thrown upon his haunches only goes through the lesson with considerable exertion, and that if he is kept too long at it, this can only be done by an amount of fatigue on the part of the rider which would be far from beneficial to a lady. The object of the lesson is to induct the pupil into a mode in which she can obtain complete mastery over her horse. It is, as it were, a gymnastic exercise for both steed and rider, and must not be persevered with too long at one time. After about ten minutes' rest the pupil should again collect her horse, rein him back, and prepare him again for cantering. She should then strike him quietly off, and ride him very collectedly, so as to be ready to make the circles. These should be made from about midway down the boards; and on the last sound of the words "circle right," the pupil should turn her horse's head from the boards, and, supporting him well with the left leg and rein, ride in a figure exactly similar to that she described at a walk. She will find, however, that the horse requires considerably more support in making the circles than he did in the simple turns. Being on the bend from the time he leaves the boards until he arrives at them again, the nicest riding is necessary to keep his fore and hind feet on the same track, and prevent him from throwing his haunches out. The pace, too, should be more collected than when the turns were made. Four miles to four miles and a half an hour is quite fast enough, and, if necessary, the horse must be halted and reined back several times in order to get him thoroughly collected. Two circles well done are quite sufficient. The pupil should then again halt, "sit at ease," and make much of her horse. By this time both he and the pupil will have gone through a tolerably severe lesson, because the collected pace necessary to execute it, and especially the circles, necessitates a great deal of cantering before a beginner can ascertain the true cadence--without which, and a considerable amount of support from her hand and leg, it is unsafe and useless for her to attempt her turns and circles; frequently, too, a horse will have to go several times round the school before the instructor can see the opportunity to give the word. Reining back again, and collecting him, call very much upon the horse's powers, while, on the other hand, over-fatigue is specially to be avoided as regards the pupil. After resting ten minutes or so, the lady should conclude this lesson by walking him quietly about till he is quite cool.

CHAPTER XI.

THE CANTERING LESSON (_continued_)--THE HALF Pa.s.sAGE AND CHANGE.

Although the last-named exercises belong, strictly speaking, more to the curriculum of the military riding school than to female equitation, still, to be able to execute them with precision is of great advantage to a lady, because they teach her that by getting a good bend on her horse, and placing him in a certain position by the application of the proper aids, she can compel him at her pleasure to canter with either near or off foot leading; and, although it may not be agreeable to her to keep her horse going with the near leg, unless she is riding on the off side, nevertheless, the practice of the half pa.s.sage and change is an admirable, and indeed very elegant, mode of acquiring ready facility in the effective use of hand and leg. I have said before that the horse in the "half pa.s.sage" places one foot before the other, instead of crossing his legs completely, as in the full pa.s.sage. The former mode of progression enables the horse therefore to gain ground diagonally to his front, instead of moving upon a line at right angles with the boards as in the latter.

The aids by which the half pa.s.sage is executed are the same as those of the "full pa.s.sage," with the following exceptions. First, there is a lighter pressure of the leg on the outward side; and in the case of a lady it is necessary that she should use her whip on the off side behind the saddle alternately with her leg on the near side, in order to cause the horse to gain ground to the front, as well as to place one foot before the other.

After starting her horse at a walk, "going large," the rider should rein him back, collect and balance him--riding equally upon snaffle and curb reins--she should make the corner perfectly square; and when midway between it and the centre marker, the instructor should give the word "right half pa.s.sage," upon which the pupil should still further collect her horse into the slow pace she used in the bending lesson, and, having arrived at the centre marker, she should bring the horse's forehand in, by a double feeling of the right rein; the outward leg closed, to prevent the haunches from flying out. The inward rein leads; the outward balances and a.s.sists the power of the inward. A pressure of the left leg causes the horse to place one foot before the other (see Aid Book). The whip used in alternate action with the leg will cause him to move to his right front, towards the boards.

A very light and delicate application of the leg, in unison with a similar application of the whip, is sufficient with a well-broken horse to enable the rider to do the "half pa.s.sage" correctly at a walk. The point at which, strictly speaking, she should arrive at the boards is just midway between the ends of the school; and in a properly-regulated one there should always be a white marker on the wall, just above the place where the sockets for the leaping bar are inserted in it.

Keeping her eye upon this marker, the rider should lead her horse's forehand lightly with the right rein, maintaining an easy, playful, feeling of the snaffle in his mouth, and carefully balancing his every step with the left rein, while she presses him up to his work with the leg and whip. The horse's head should be bent to the right, so that his right eye is visible to the rider as she sits perfectly square in the saddle. The pace can scarcely be too slow, but every step must be taken up to the bridle, the horse's forehand up, and his haunches well under him.

In no part of a lady's course of equitation is it necessary for the instructor to pay more close attention to his pupil than in this: the temptation to the latter to relax her position, and sit, as it were, "all over the saddle" is great, from the difficulty she at first experiences in applying the aids effectually, and her anxiety to do well, causing her to twist her figure in pressing the horse with the left leg. The horse, too, is moving with his fore and hind feet in two distinctly different lines, which renders it far from easy, without considerable practice, to sit fair and square in the saddle. Close attention and quiet correction, however, will obviate all this.

Many people, I am aware, a.s.sert that riding with such precision is unnecessary to a lady. From this opinion I beg leave to dissent _in toto_, my idea being that a course of equitation for a lady means teaching her everything (less the lessons of the "Haute ecole") connected with the subject, and that whether she chooses hereafter to practise the "bending lesson," "half pa.s.sage," and change at a canter or not, a thorough knowledge of them will give her a facility of riding unattainable by any other means, and make her also thoroughly _au fait_ to the reason for everything she does in order to control the animal under her.