INTRODUCTION. 9 



boldly and with perfect satisfaction to herself, 

 but to the eye of the connoisseur she presents 

 many glaring defects. Very bold, but, at the 

 same time, very bad riding is often seen among 

 those who consider themselves very fine horse- 

 women. In order to gain the reputation of a 

 finished rider, it is not essential that one should 

 perform all the antics of a circus rider, nor that 

 she should ride a Mazeppian horse. The fin- 

 ished rider may be known by the correctness of 

 her attitude in the saddle, by her complete con- 

 trol of her horse, and by the tranquillity of her 

 motions when in city or park; in such places 

 she makes no attempt to ride at a very rapid 

 trot, or flying gallop-gaits which should be re- 

 served for country roads, where more speed is 

 allowable. 



There is still another false idea prevalent 

 among a certain class of people, which is that 

 a love for horses, and for horseback riding nec- 

 essarily makes one coarse, and detracts from 

 the refinement of a woman's nature. It must 

 be acknowledged that the coarseness of a vul- 

 gar spirit can be nowhere more conspicuously 

 displayed than in the saddle, and yet in no 

 place is the delicacy and decorum of woman 

 more observable. A person on horseback is 

 placed in a position where every motion is sub- 



