138 LADIES' HOESES SHOULD BE STRENGTH Y. 



Ladies generally canter. This being the case, nothing 

 can be so great an error as putting them on slight 

 horses. A lady's horse should always be at least a 

 couple of stones above the weight he is wanted to carry ; 

 first, because he is wanted to canter at his general 

 pace ; but still more, because on all occasions he 

 ought to .be both able and disposed to do all he is 

 asked to do with the utmost activity. He should be 

 highly bred, to give him action and courage; and 

 should at the same time be firm and strong, to make 

 him safe : for ladies neither do nor can assist horses 

 much. Whatever ladies wish to do, they always 

 wish to do as soon as possible ; so when they wish to 

 become horsewomen, they always wish to exhibit as 

 soon as possible, which they generally do long before 

 they have got hands or seat. Their teachers naturally 

 wish to please them ; so they have the management 

 of their horses given up to them before they have 

 learned to manage themselves. Their horses should 

 therefore be such as require but little, in fact no 

 absolute management at all; and management they 

 will require if they are not more than equal to the 

 task demanded of them. 



The opinions of men relative to the comparative 

 strength required for the saddle and harness horse 

 have changed greatly of late years. Our ancestors, 

 even our fathers, considered those horses that were 

 not strong enough for harness were quite sufficiently 

 so for hunters. This was all correct enough when 

 the old gravel roads were in use. In those days, 

 what they " called mending the roads " was rendering 

 them all but impassable for some days or weeks, 

 according to the traffic on them ; but thanks to 

 M'Adam, we have done things better, and now many 



