CHAPTER III. 



THE SADDLE AND BRIDLE. 



" Form by mild bits his mouth, nor harshly wound, 

 Till summer rolls her fourth-revolving round. 

 Then wheel in graceful orbs his paced career, 

 Let step by step in cadence strike the ear, 

 The flexile limbs in curves alternate prance, 

 And seem to labor as they slow advance : 

 Then give, uncheck'd, to fly with loosen'd rein, 

 Challenge the winds, and wing th' unprinted plain." 



Virgil, Sothebifs Translation. 



In ye ancient times, the damsel who wished 

 to enjoy horseback riding did not, hke her suc- 

 cessor of to-day, trust to her own abihty to ride 

 and manage her horse, but, seated upon a pad 

 or cushion, called a " pillion," which was fas- 

 tened behind a man's saddle, rode without a 

 stirrup and without troubling herself with the 

 reins, preserving her balance by holding to the 

 belt of a trusty page, or masculine admirer, 

 whose duty it was to attend to the management 

 of the horse. We learn that as late as A. d. 

 1700, George III. made his entry into London 

 with his wife, Charlotte, thus seated behind him. 

 Gradually, however, as women became more 

 confident, they rode alone upon a sort of side- 



