lady's seat. 223 



would unseat, and dano-ei'ously unseat, tlie best horsemen in an 

 ordinary luinting field. These stockmen would make grand 

 cavalry riders in active service, though perhaps not on parade, as 

 their seat, though perfect of its kind, is not quite the seat for 

 llotten Row. 



526. — No lady can be a good rider who does not sit down in 

 the middle of her saddle, and sit upright. The more weight a 

 gentleman puts in his stirrups the better for his horse, and his 

 horse's back, as it puts the weight low down and spreads it 

 equally over the saddle. But it is just the reverse with a lady, 

 who has only a stirrup on one side, and can put no weight in it 

 without inconvenience to her horse, injury to the horse's back, 

 and danger of putting her saddle round. She must ride by 

 balancing herself on the middle of her horse's back, and holding 

 firmly to the three crutches of her saddle with her legs. Her 

 legs give her a very firm hold of the front of the saddle, so that 

 she cannot be thrown back, and may lean back as much as she 

 likes, especially at a leap ; buc she can never safely lean forward, 

 as she is liable to be sent over the horse's head. 



527 — A lady has really a firmer hold on her saddle than a 

 gentleman for a straightforward leap, but then she depends far 

 more entirely on her saddle and her girths, and puts a greater 

 strain on them. Xor can she be so well prepared for what is far 

 more difficult than leaping, that is the very sudden turn round 

 which a horse will often take, when his rider is expecting him to 

 go straight over a fence. Nor can a lady ever depend upon 

 falling cleverly, and clearing herself from a falling horse, as her 

 brothers may do. 



528. — A lady sometimes gets through a hunt with flying 

 colours when she has a very reliable, well broken horse, and she 

 often shines as a pacifier of a timid, nervous, over-sensitive 

 animal ; but no one looks upon fool-hardiness as a virtue in a 

 lady, and the best lady rider in the woi'ld would show wretched 

 taste by taking a badly trained horse to a public hunt, or even 

 by taking very desperate leaps on any horse. 



529. — A lady may go to a hunt to see, or to be seen ; to 

 learn, or to teach ; to seek, or to give happiness ; but if she goes 



