89 



under the horse's body, have to bear the great- 

 est part of his weight. From this it follows, 

 that if a horse be taught to lead with the same 

 fore leg and hind leg, the two others, that sup- 

 port the principal weight of his body, will 

 fail sooner than the leading legs; it is there- 

 fore better to accustom a horse to lead with 

 one fore leg as well as the other. All the dif- 

 ferent degrees of speed in galloping are only a 

 series of leaps, taken quicker or slower as the 

 horse becomes more or less accelerated in his 

 motion. 



Ladies* horses are generally broke to the 

 c inter, and most certainly this pace is the easi- 

 est as well as the safest for a lady. A lady 

 should never ride a trotting horse, unless he 

 performs that pace in a grand and superior 

 stile, and goes safe and v/ell above the ground; 

 beside, it is a pace that shakes too much^ and 

 it is too violent for a delicate frame. No lady 

 above a certain v/eight should ever take this 

 exercise ; for nothing has a more aukward ap- 

 pearance than a large and overgrown woman 

 on horseback, and in so perilous a situation. 

 If a lady weiglis tv/eive or thirteen stone, she 

 actUcdlv rides heavier than a man of sixteeiu 



