i8 HORSES FOR LADIES. 



field. The sight of an " Arabi tattoo" to an old 

 Indian like myself, revives many pleasant memories of 

 delightful equine friends in the East. The Arab is 

 par excellence the most perfect hack for a lady, and I 

 think it would be ungrateful of me in this new edition 

 to omit the portrait of my Arab pony Freddie (Fig. 7), 

 even though the cut of the riding-habit is out of date. 



Although a good horsewoman may be satisfied with 

 any animal which is fit for a man, provided he is steady 

 to mount and does not require an unusual amount of 

 collecting ; it is not safe to put an inexperienced or 

 nervous rider on a horse that has not been taught to 

 carry a habit, which a groom can do by riding the 

 animal with a rug or dark overcoat on the near side, 

 and letting it flop about. Horses rarely object to the 

 presence of a skirt, though I have known cases in which 

 the animal went almost wild with terror when the right 

 leg was put over the crutch. It is, therefore, wise to ac- 

 custom a horse to the skirt and leg by means of a groom. 



The fact of a lady having to ride in a side-saddle, puts 

 her under the following three disadvantages as com- 

 pared to a man in a "cross-saddle" : she is, as a rule, 

 unable to mount without assistance ; she cannot apply 

 the pressure of the right leg to the side of the horse ; 

 and it is difficult for her " to drop her hands " in order 

 to pull him together. The judicious application of 

 a crop or ash-plant (my husband, though an Irish- 

 man, swears by a Neilgherry cane) may partly make 

 up for the absence of a leg on the off side ; but, how- 

 ever well a woman may ride, she should not have a 



