MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING, 111 



her leg from the second pommel, and then seats 

 herself sideways in the saddle, so as to face her 

 assistant, who now places the stirrup on the 

 front of the saddle with his right hand ; he then 

 offers his right shoulder to the lady for her sup- 

 port. She, after gathering up in her left hand 

 a few folds of her riding skirt, in order to have 

 her feet free when she alights, places upon his 

 shoulder the hand which holds the skirt, and 

 with the other, in which she holds her whip 

 point downward, grasps the second pommel and 

 springs lightly from the saddle, the gentleman 

 bending over a little as she descends. On reach- 

 ing the ground, she should, as before described, 

 bend her knees slightly to lessen the shock of 

 the descent. (Fig. 18.) 



In all these modes of dismounting, the lady, 

 before attempting to alight, should be sure that 

 her skirt is quite free from the pommels, espe- 

 cially from the second one, and that it is so ad- 

 justed that it will not be trodden upon when she 

 reaches the ground, but will fall evenly about 

 her, without being in any way disarranged. 



It happens not infrequently that a lady is 

 obliged to dismount without any one to assist 

 her, and in this case she should ride up to a 

 horse-block so as to bring the left side of her 

 horse close to it^ let the curb reins fall upon his 



