212 FOX-HUNTING 



this by sitting a little back on the rocking-horse, 

 which you will then find requires considerable 

 strength to make it rock. Has it ever occurred 

 to you to speculate why women's horses very 

 seldom fall, and why a woman requires a much 

 stronger horse in comparison than a man ? I 

 believe the reason for both facts is, that the 

 position on a side-saddle throws the rider's centre 

 of gravity behind the horse's centre of balance 

 and keeps it there, so that, however badly a 

 horse may stumble, there is no extra weight in 

 front to prevent his recovery. The same cause 

 subjects the animal's quarters and propelling 

 power to a greater strain than when the weight 

 is in the middle, as it is in the position a man 

 rides, hence the necessity for a strong horse to 

 carry a woman. 



Good shoulders and balance are not quite one 

 and the same thing, as I have known one to 

 exist without the other. A good shoulder may, 

 however, be called the basis on which nearly 

 every even balance is built up, and the only way 

 to make certain the former is right, is to satisfy 

 yourself about the condition of the latter. 



America has recognised this balance theory, 



