32 



RIDING FOR LADIES. 



the left, the neck, to counteract this lateral contortion of 

 the spine, being bent over to the right, the whole pose 

 conveying the impression that the rider must be a cripple 

 braced up in surgeon's irons and other appliances. Not 

 less hideous, and equally prevalent, is the habit of sitting 

 too much to the left, and leaning over in that direction 

 several degrees out of the perpendicular. A novice is apt 

 to contract this leaning-seat from the apprehension, existing 

 in the mind of timid riders, that they must fall off from 

 the off rather than from the near side, so they incline away 

 from the supposed danger. Too long a stirrup is sometimes 

 answerable for this crab-like posture. In both of these 

 awkward postures, the seat becomes insecure, and the due 

 exercise of the " aids " impossible. What is understood by 

 " aids " in the language of the schools are the motions and 

 proper application of the bridle-hand, leg, and heel to 

 control and direct the turnings and paces of the horse. 



The expression "riding by balance" has been frequently 

 used, and as it is the essence of good horsemanship, I 

 describe it in the words of an expert as consisting in " a 

 foreknowledge of what direction any given motion of the 

 horse would throw the body, and a ready adaptation of the 

 whole frame to the proper position, before the horse has 

 completed his change of attitude or action; it is that 

 disposition of the person, in accordance with the movements 

 of the horse, which preserves it from an improper inclina- 

 tion to one side or the other, which even the ordinary paces 

 of the horse in the trot or gallop will occasion." In brief, 

 it is the automatic inclination of the person of the rider 

 to the body of the horse by which the equilibrium is 

 maintained. 



The rider having to some extent perfected herself in 

 walking straight forward, inclining and turning to the right 



