•l8 RIDING FOR LADIES. 



hand ; during the lift it must not be advanced, but kept under 

 her, and he must not attempt to raise her till her right foot 

 be clear of the ground. The best plan that can be adopted 

 with a horse in the habit of moving away to one side is to 

 stand him against a low wall or paling, or alongside another 

 horse. A quiet, well-trained horse may stand as firm as one 

 of the British squares at Waterloo, or *' the thin red line" 

 at Balaclava, for times without number, but from some un- 

 foreseen alarm may suddenly start aside. The spring and lift 

 must go together, or the lady may, like Mahomet's coffin, 

 find herself hanging midway. Practice alone can teach the 

 art of mounting lightly and gracefully, and to an active 

 person there is no difficulty. 



There is yet another method of mounting which requires 

 considerably more practice — doing away with the services 

 of a mounter, — and that is for the lady to mount herself. In 

 these days, when so many ladies practise gymnastics and 

 athletic exercises generally, there ought to be no difficulty 

 in acquiring this useful habit. The stirrup is let out till it 

 reaches to about a foot from the ground, the pommel is 

 grasped with the right hand, and with a spring the rider 

 is in her seat. The stirrup is then adjusted to its proper 

 length. Unless the horse be very quiet the groom must 

 stand at his head during this process of mounting. 



Mounting from a chair or a pair of steps is certainly not 

 an accomplishment I should recommend ladies to indulge 

 in ; still, there are occasions when the friendly aid of a low 

 wall, a stile, the bar of a gate, or even a wheelbarrow, comes 

 handy. In such a predicament, take the bridoon across the 

 palm of the left hand, and drawing the bit rein through on 

 each side of the little or third finger till the horse's mouth be 

 felt, place the right foot in the stirrup, grasp the leaping-head 

 with the left and the upright pommel with the right hand, 



