FIRST LESSONS IN RIDING. 



precision at these paces, she should be given a lesson 

 in riding over fences. We may put up a small hurdle, 

 or some easy obstacle, in an enclosed place, and tell her 

 to canter her horse straight to the centre of it and jump 

 it. All that she need be instructed to do, is to give the 

 horse his head when he is rising at the jump, and to 

 lean well back when he is about to land over it. By 

 giving her horse his head, I mean that she is to extend 

 her arms to their utmost length, and bring them again 

 into position after he has landed. Fig. 102 shows a lady 

 leaning back and extending her arms at a fence. The 

 pupil will not require to alter the length of her reins 

 when riding over fences, presuming, of course, that she 

 has been taught from the first to keep a nice easy feel 

 on her horse's mouth. She should be careful to leave 

 the curb alone, and always ride over fences on the 

 snaffle. The lady in Fig. 102 is riding only with a 

 snaffle, and with a nice easy length of rein. I must 

 pause here to draw attention to the fine riding of the 

 lady, Miss Emmie Harding, of Mount Vernon, New 

 Zealand, who is jumping this formidable wire fence on 

 her hunter Marengo. Our hard riding Colonial sisters 

 have nothing to learn from us in the matter of sitting 

 over stiff fences, even high wire barricades that would 

 certainly stop a whole field in the Shires. Some 

 critical ladies may consider that her left foot is carried 

 too far back, but this is not the case, as she is riding 

 with her stirrup at the ball of the foot and obtaining 

 her grip of the leaping head without depressing the 

 left knee. When we require to obtain the maximum 



