RIDING AND DRIVING 105 



ponies should not be over thirteen hands ; the ball 

 should be rubber-covered, and the sticks light. You 

 might have lots of fun in this way, and it would 

 improve your riding more than anything. The 

 excitement of the game would make you forget 

 about riding, when you would lose fear and gain 

 confidence. 



There is one advantage in a side-saddle, and that 

 is, when a woman has learnt to ride in it she feels 

 so secure that, unlike a man, she does not want 

 to balance herself by the reins. This is the chief 

 reason why the majority of women have better 

 " hands " than men ; that and perhaps a greater 

 delicacy of touch, combined with a knowledge of 

 their own want of muscular power. 



Whilst the fashion still remains for a woman to 

 sit sideways, it is as well not to be different from 

 every one else, and you must try to acquire a good 

 seat. Sit in the middle of the saddle, and let your 

 weight fall directly over the horse's backbone. The 

 slightest bearing to one side or the other will give 

 him a sore back. The saddle should not be higher 

 over the withers than it is anywhere else, or by 

 raising your knee it will give you an ugly seat. 

 Some very good riders ride with the left leg per- 

 fectly straight, but I do not quite understand how 

 they can have a firm seat. A woman's grip depends 

 on the pommel and the stirrup. She must press 

 down with her foot on the stirrup and upwards 

 with her leg against the pommel, thereby getting 

 a very strong leverage, which, when properly 



