CHAPTER XXIII 



SEATS AND HANDS OF ENGLISH SPORTSWOMEN 



A SCHOOL-GIRL Cannot be expected to pick up 

 much about hacking, let alone hunting, if she 

 trots after her riding-master only twice a week 

 during the term, and has a favourite "screw" at 

 home, whose worst vice is shying feebly in con- 

 sequence of defective eyesight. 



It may be taken for granted that not one girl 

 in a hundred can look well nor feel thoroughly at 

 home on a horse, unless she has overcome the 

 fear of cutting a voluntary, and has also been 

 shown the faults and virtues of all styles of riding. 



To begin with, there is the limp way of sitting 

 on a side-saddle, and feebly holding the reins 

 in a half-hearted manner. It is exceedingly 

 exasperating from an accomplished horsewoman's 

 point of view. Let us describe how a demure 

 young lady, with no resolution — say an amiable 

 person like Amelia in " Vanity Fair " — would hold 

 her reins. Also how she would sit, after even 

 capable instructors had endeavoured to teach 

 their pupil to cut a presentable figure in Rotten 

 Row, or along country lanes, or out hunting. 

 She would appear to ride faster than her horse, 

 and would bump bump in her saddle most un- 

 necessarily on the " hard, high road." Surely, 



