RIDING FOR LADIES. 



mounted a horse up to her thirteenth year^ my advice is 

 to postpone the attempt, unless thoroughly strong, for a 

 couple of years at least. I cannot here enter the reason 

 why, but it is good and sufficient. Weakly girls of all 

 ages, especially those who are growing rapidly, are apt 

 to suffer from pain in the spine. "The Invigorator" 

 corset I have recommended under the head of " Ladies' 

 Costume" will, to some extent, counteract this physical 

 weakness; but the only certain cures are either total 

 cessation from horse exercise, or the adoption of the 

 cross, or Duchess de Berri, seat — in plain words, to ride 

 a la cavaliere astride in a man's saddle. In spite of pre- 

 conceived prejudices, I think that if ladies will kindly peruse 

 my short chapter on this common sense method, they 

 will come to the conclusion that Anne of Luxembourg, 

 who introduced the side-saddle, did not confer an unmixed 

 benefit on the subjects of Richard the Second, and that 

 riding astride is no more indelicate than the modern short 

 habit in the hunting field. We are too apt to prostrate 

 ourselves before the Juggernaut of fashion, and to hug our 

 own conservative ideas. 



Though the present straight-seat side-saddle, as manu- 

 factured by Messrs. Champion and Wilton, modifies, if it 

 does not actually do away with, any fear of curvature of the 

 spine ; still, it is of importance that girls should be taught 

 to ride on the off-side as well as the near, and, if possible, 

 on the cross-saddle also. Undoubtedly, a growing girl, 

 whose figure and pliant limbs may, like a sapling, be trained 

 in almost any direction, does, by always being seated in 

 one direction, contract a tendency to hang over to one 

 side or the other, and acquire a stiff, crooked, or ungainly 

 seat. Perfect ease and squareness are only to be acquired, 

 durinof tuition and after dismissal from school, by riding 



