PACES, VICES, AND FAULTS. 141 



hand, say the left, while with the right the reins are pulled 

 in a downward direction, bringing the horse's head round 

 ever so little, in order if possible to make him change his 

 leg. The fact is, there are vicious rearers whom nothing 

 will cure — cunning ones who know enough never to tumble 

 back upon you, and are sufficiently amenable in other ways 

 to encourage the hope that something may be made of 

 them — playful ones who transgress more from skittishness 

 than vice — and timid ones who, having suffered from too 

 severe bitting, throw themselves upward as soon as they 

 feel the touch of the bridle upon their mouths. An 

 accomplished horsewoman will soon distinguish the dif- 

 ferences which mark these various offenders, and will act 

 with coolness and judgment, according as her training may 

 point out to her. I believe that to be perfectly cool on all 

 occasions, never to be flurried, or taken unawares, and 

 above all things never to lose temper, no matter how trying 

 the circumstances, will best ensure successful equestrianism, 

 both for men and women. To expect to ride without 

 encountering difficulties and worries, as well as risks and 

 dangers, is only to look for something that cannot possibly 

 be attained. Ride, of course, you may — if to sit calmly on 

 a slug's back, and walk him round a grass field, or along a 

 country road, can be called riding — but the term, in the 

 sense in which I apply it, means something very different 

 indeed. It is replete with dangers and anxieties of all 

 sorts, but surely it is worth them. Many a time, when I 

 have come in fagged, heated, and dirty, after battling with 

 a young beginner — or ragged and weary after a hard day's 



