173 HOW TO EDUCATE HORSES. 



no horse which throws his head up is fit for a lady's 

 use. The lady's horse ought to be a most perfect goer, 

 instead of being, as it often is, a stupid brute, fit only 

 for a dray. 



Many men think that any horse gifted with a neat 

 outline will carry a lady; but it is a great mistake, 

 and if the ladies themselves had the choice of horses 

 they would soon decide to the contrary. The only 

 thing in their favor, in choosing a lady's horse, is that 

 the weight to be carried is usually light, and there- 

 fore a horse calculated to carry them is seldom fit to 

 mount a man, because the weight of the male sex is 

 generally so much above that of an equestrian lady. 

 Few of this sex who ride are above one hundred and 

 thirty pounds, and most are below that weight. But 

 in point of soundness, action, mouth and temper, the 

 lady's horse should be unimpeachable. A gentleman's 

 horse may be good, yet wholly unable to canter, and 

 so formed that he cannot be taught; he, therefore, is 

 unsuited to a lady; but, on the other hand, every lady's 

 horse should do all his paces well. Many ladies, it is 

 true, never trot; but they should not be furnished with 

 the excuse that they cannot because their horses will 

 not. In size, the lady's horse should be about fifteen 

 hands, or from fourteen and a half to fifteen and a 

 half; less than this allows the habit to trail in the 

 dirt, and more makes the horse too lofty and un- 

 wieldy for a lady's use. 



In breaking the lady's horse, if he is of good temper 

 and fine mouth, little need be done to make him can- 

 ter easily and with the right leg foremost. This is 

 necessary, because the other leg is uncomfortable to 

 the rider from her side position on the saddle; the 

 breaker, therefore, should adopt the means elsewhere 

 described, and persevere until the horse is quite ac- 



