432 RIDING DIFFICULT HORSES. 



so when they find themselves carrying a rider who 

 sits in a side-saddle, which must be a most unnatural 

 burden to a horse that has been broken and ridden by 

 men. Apart from considerations of side-saddle gear, 

 the extra steadiness which is required of him in 

 standing " stock " still while a lady is being put 

 up on his back and her habit arranged, necessitates 

 more patience on his part than with a male rider. On 

 the other hand, he may be impressed with the idea 

 that he is being asked to carry a more precious burden, 

 and that he must prove himself worthy of the con- 

 fidence reposed in him. I think this feeling of honour 

 exists in horses, for I am reminded of a charger which 

 an officer in India lent me, with somewhat anxious 

 misgivings, to ride. He told me that the animal 

 would be sure to buck at a certain spot, and, as he 

 rode with me, he warned me when I came to this 

 debateable ground to be ready for the usual perform- 

 ance. We cantered along quietly, as we had been 

 doing, for I thought it best to pretend nothing, and 

 my mount, to his owner's great surprise, made no 

 attempt to buck, either then or subsequently, while 

 I was riding him, and we remained the best of friends. 

 A hunter mare which I had in Cheshire, gave another 

 instance of this honourable feeling among equines. 

 When ridden by my husband or myself, she loved 

 to show off by shying at a white gate, a heap of stones, 

 a piece of paper, a bird, or any imaginable thing that 

 she could find as an excuse to dart suddenly from one 

 side of the road to the other. When we got to the 



