RIDING FOR LADIES. 



this is an admitted fact ; and, being so, it serves to sweep 

 away suppositious inferences respecting the superiority of 

 equine practice, or training, over that of any other sort. So 

 much for the oft-quoted plea of " exercise." 



With regard to the question of courage, it cannot be 

 denied that a certain and useful amount of confidence is 

 imparted to all young persons who participate largely in 

 pursuits which have a smack of daring or danger about 

 them. Watch, for example, the peasant girls who inhabit 

 the country districts of Ireland. They climb steep 

 mountains, descend jagged cliffs, run barefooted along 

 sharp ledges and high rugged walls, without thought of 

 dano-er, or trace of fear. And why } Because from child- 

 hood they have been accustomed to it. It goes, then, 

 without saying that early practice does impart an amount 

 of bravado, which may in later life be found useful on 

 occasion ; but, having acknowledged this, I feel that I have 

 done my entire duty towards the advocates of a system to 

 which I strongly object, and I shall, therefore, proceed, in 

 all fairness, to demolish their theories by a clear and 

 simple setting forth of the evils which are, in my opinion, 

 attendant upon early equestrian pursuits. 



Few persons will be found to dispute the fact that a 

 child on horseback, especially a girl, runs at least as many 

 risks as a grown person. She may at any moment be 

 jerked off, run away with, overpowered by the strength 

 or temper of her mount, cannoned against by awkward 

 or reckless riders, or subjected to the unpleasantness of 

 discovering that the animal she herself is riding is given 



