272 THE AMERICAN HORSEWOMAN. 



may be times when even the hitherto most doc- 

 ile animal will suddenly display that which in 

 Yorkshire dialect is called " mistech ; " that is, 

 there may be unexpectedly developed a restive 

 trait, for which there seems to be no reason. 

 Even a really good-natured horse may, owing 

 to high feed and little work, shy, plunge, and 

 kick, in his exuberance of spirits, and should 

 his rider not know how to control these sudden 

 and unexpected manifestations, he may gain 

 the ascendency, and she be thrown from the 

 saddle. That which, on the part of the horse, 

 is intended for good-humored play, may thus, 

 from want of control, degenerate into positive 

 viciousness. A skillful rider will manage and 

 endure the prancings, pawings, and impatience 

 of her steed, which are frequently only his 

 method of expressing satisfaction and happiness 

 in carrying his kind mistress, and will con- 

 tinue riding and controlling him until he be- 

 comes calm and quiet, and ceases to display his 

 impulsive sensitiveness. Again, a lady may 

 have occasion to ride a strange horse, of whose 

 disposition she knows very little. It is, there- 

 fore, very important that every horsewoman 

 should be prepared to meet and to overcome 

 any eccentric demonstrations on the part of the 

 animal she may be riding. 



