INTRODUCTION 5 



which women attain in riding, and in many games of skill, even 

 in walking and dancing, takes its first growth from vanity that 

 is to say, the desire to do whatever she does better than other 

 people ; and to be admired when riding or walking, or whatever 

 she may be doing, is a great incentive to her to arrive at 

 excellence in any pursuits she takes up. The instructor has 

 only to show a little girl how ungraceful and ugly is a woman 

 sitting badly on her horse, and he may depend upon her doing 

 all she can to sit so that those who see her will express ad- 

 miration and approval. 



Having got our young friend into the saddle, we now come 

 to fitting her stirrup. Some ladies ride with a very short stirrup 

 and bend the left leg short back, so that the whole of the 

 sole of the boot is visible, if the habit flies up in the least, to 

 those behind her. This is very bad, and the greatest care must 

 be taken to avoid it, for fear it should become a rooted manner- 

 ism, all the more difficult to overcome afterwards. It is almost 

 an absolute certainty that a lady who rides in this fashion will 

 give the horses she rides sore backs. The stirrup should be so 

 adjusted that the left leg should hang easily and nearly straight 

 down from the knee, being very slightly bent back, just enough 

 to allow the top of the knee to touch the under side of the 

 pommel, called by saddlers 'the leaping head.' The stirrup 

 should be under the ball of the foot \ and should not touch the 

 ankle or leg. When so placed the lady sits with freedom and 

 strength combined, for she has the power to grip the two 

 pommels, and she is not cramped and stiff in position. She 

 is carried with greater ease by her horse, and she avoids the 

 risk of making a lump upon her ankle from the pressure of the 

 stirrup against it. Once she gets into the habit of this seat, 

 perfectly square to the front and quite perpendicular, and with 

 stirrup adjusted as described, she will not require the pad put 

 on the end of the stirrup leather and the top of the stirrup iron, 

 which of itself may produce the lump on the ankle, which is a 

 token of something being wrong. 



Before proceeding to the question of how to put the inferior 



