240 RIDING WITHOUT REINS. 



rising, she should try to feel her stirrup just before her 

 body is bumped upward by the horse, and she will soon 

 become able to time her movements, so as to rise in her 

 stirrup with grace and ease. To do this, her effort 

 should be strictly confined to aiding the upward lift 

 which the horse gives to her body, and should be free 

 from any jerk or wriggle. She should have her weight 

 well on her right leg, and should keep her stirrup in one 

 unaltered position (p. 192). The ankle acts here as a 

 spring to take away any jerk that might occur during 

 the movement. The stirrup, as I have said on page 

 192, should be at the ball of the foot, and the left 

 knee should be kept steady and close against the flap 

 of the saddle. If the horse, during the trot, suddenly 

 breaks off into a canter, the rider should sit down 

 in her saddle, and be ready, to grip her crutches with 

 both legs, if necessary. 



When cantering, the lady should try as much as 

 possible to ride by balance and not by gripping her 

 crutches tightly the whole time. She will thus be able 

 to sit in a nice, easy position, and will be ready to grip 

 the moment she requires to do so, as when turning, or 

 if she feels she is losing her balance. Whenever the 

 pupil gets displaced in her saddle or frightened, the 

 horse should at once be pulled up; for the lesson 

 will be of no use to her, if she feels forced to adopt 

 a stiff, awkward position in her saddle for the sake 

 of safety. 



It is well to know that an almost infallible sign of 

 a rider being frightened of her horse is a tendency to 



