loo RIDING FOR LADIES. 



muscular action ; nor will it be in all cases wise to thrust 

 the left foot " home," as it is called, — better ride from the 

 ball of it. Further reference to this point will be found in 

 the concluding chapter. 



Ascertain before starting that your stirrup-leather is 

 precisely the right length, in order that you may not be 

 induced to lean to the left side owing to its being too long, 

 or have your knee uncomfortably thrust up on account 

 of its shortness. You should sit erect and square, with 

 chest forward and shoulders well back, yet without any 

 appearance of stiffness or rigidity of position. Be as firm 

 as a rock beloiv the waist, but light and flexible as a reed 

 above it. On these two rules all the beauty, and indeed 

 the safety, of equestrianism depend. 



You must practice hard to attain a good, steady seat, for 

 it will not come to you by magic. On the contrary, you will 

 find yourself at one moment sitting as stiff as a poker, with 

 your chin thrust fonvard in the air — and then, when you catch 

 yourself thus, and strive to rectify it by assuming a sudden 

 limpness, you will discover that your lower limbs have grown 

 limp also, in sympathy with the rest of your body, and are 

 hanging so loosely that a touch will send you out of the 

 • saddle. Again, you will discover that the toe of your right 

 foot has a dreadful tendency to turn outward from the 

 ankle, while that of the left turns down, and shows the 

 sole of your boot to those in the rear of you. 



All these things will be seemingly against you for a long 

 time after you have begun to have your horse led about : a 

 process which must be done first by hand and then with a 



