LEARNING TO RIDE. 103 



I do not believe that the fact of having a master riding 

 alongside of you, and saying " one, two," " one, two," until 

 you are half demented, will ever teach it, although steady 

 perseverance on your own part may, and will. 



There are three things that I want you particularly to 

 avoid. First, an ugly churning movement, which is hideous 

 to look at and distressing to the horse ; second, a dis- 

 position to ride with your elbows extended, or your left 

 hand on hip or thigh, or placed at the back of your waist ; 

 and third, a habit of stooping forward in the trot and 

 hanging over to the near side, a fault which is extremely 

 usual with lady riders. I give an illustration of this un- 

 sightly position, by way of warning ; supplemented by one 

 of a figure seated correctly upon the saddle, while her horse 

 is trotting at the rate of eight or nine miles an hour. 



As soon as you are perfectly mistress of the art of 

 riding gracefully from balance, and can walk, canter, and 

 trot, both fast and slowly, without any assistance save that 

 which your grip of the pommels and slight help from the 

 stirrup combine to afford you, the latter adjunct may be 

 discarded altogether for awhile, and you may ride for an 

 hour or so every day without it. You will not take 

 very long to practice this ; indeed, the only inconvenience 

 arising from it, at all worth considering, will be a certain 

 tired feeling in the left leg, as though the limb wanted 

 dreadfully to have something to support it — but, believe 

 me, a very few days of steady practice will enable you to 

 dispense with stirrup aid altogether, and not to feel at all 

 incommoded by doing so. In a week's time at furthest you 



