AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



It is quite true that no book can, without practice, teach the reader how 

 to ride. Practical arts can only be learned by practical experience. Never- 

 theless, we can learn considerable from the collected experience of the 

 finest horsemen of the present and past generation. And this we may say, 

 those Avho are seeking knowledge on this subject will find here the results 

 of many years of experience, written by those who are in every case 

 thorough masters of the subject they treat. 



We have tried in this volume to place simply and clearly before the 

 reader, not only a fund of information, and the art of riding as taught by 

 the best professors the world has seen, but also a thorough knowledge of 

 the proper equipment required. It will show the necessity of having the 

 saddle to suit the rider, and not compelling one to ride only as the saddle 

 permits. In the selection of an outfit, the knowledge here gained will 

 enable the rider to be the judge of what will best suit his or her require- 

 ments. 



The artist, after years of toil, is compensated by the attention his work 

 receives from the public ; and we ask the reader to pay us the compliment 

 of examining the second part of our labor, the collection of riding equip- 

 ments in our warerooms, for we have labored as hard to bring this to 

 perfection as we have in editing this work. 



Our knowledge of the mechanical laws that govern the relation between 

 horse and rider has been put into practice, and our riding saddles are the 

 result of years of careful thought, of attention to all improvements tending 

 towards safety and comfort, of travel abroad and consultation with the 

 finest makers and the ablest equestrians the world affords. 



In presenting this volume to the reader the only reAvard we hope to 



reap is that you may visit us. In doing this we feel certain you will be 



repaid, in looking at the finest and most complete collections of horse goods 



ever brought together. 



MARK W. CROSS & CO. 

 Boston, July, 1891. 



