Side-Saddles. 331 



to do. ' Sir,' said he, ' you should remember that I am only 

 a ^2-a-month servant. If I were as clever as you expect 

 me to be, you would have to pay me at least .30 a 

 month.' 



The craze for cheap riding lessons is not confined to 

 England. James Fillis told me that on one occasion when 

 he had created a very favourable impression by his high 

 school riding in Berlin, several ladies of the Prussian capital 

 asked him to give them riding lessons ; but that on his men- 

 tioning that his terms were eight marks (shillings) a lesson, 

 they all with one accord expressed their sorrow and went 

 away. 



Although our riding lessons did not bring us in much 

 money, for only a few people will pay highly for good quality 

 after having been accustomed to obtain an inferior article 

 cheaply ; they taught both of us a great deal. Long before 

 we commenced them, I was aware of the truth of the old 

 saying that one never knows a subject well, until one has 

 had some experience in teaching it. We were of course 

 delighted to get this opportunity of increasing our know- 

 ledge, and we stored up the results of our observations for 

 use in new editions, as well as on future occasions. One 

 morning in the riding-school, I remarked that my wife, while 

 going over some jumps and, consequently, while pressing her 

 leg against the leaping-head of her saddle, kept the flat of her 

 knee away from the flap of the saddle, instead of close against 

 it I could see this, because she was riding without a skirt 

 at the time. When she had finished, I asked her why she 

 rode in this manner, and remarked that she would be firmer 

 and ' squarer ' in her seat, if she would bring her knee close to 

 the horse's side. She replied that what I said was quite true ; 

 but that the curve of the leaping-head forced the knee away 

 from the flap of the saddle, when the leg was pressed against 

 the leaping-head, and that this was a failing inherent in all 

 leaping-heads. I told her that I would try to remedy this 

 defect, and by a good deal of thinking, many experiments 



