CHAPTER V. 



THE SEAT OX HOESEBACK. 



" Bounded the fiery steed in air, 

 The rider sat erect and fair, 

 Then like a bolt from steel cross-bow 

 Forth launched, along the plain they go." 



Lady of the Lake. 



A CORRECT seat is very seldom attained by 

 the self-taught hidy rider, for her attitude on 

 the horse is so artificial that she cannot, like the 

 gentleman rider, Avhose seat is more easy and 

 natural, fall directly into the proper position. 

 Competent instruction alone can enable her to 

 gain the safe and easy posture which will give 

 the least possible fatigue to herself and to her 

 horse. It is true that a natural rider, or she 

 who professes to ride instinctively, may to-day 

 accidentally assume the proper position in the 

 saddle, but, as she has no rule by which to guide 

 herself, and is entirely unacquainted with the 

 " whys and wherefores "of a correct seat, she 

 will to-morrow assume the incorrect position, so 

 natural to a self-tauglit rider, and the pleasant 

 ride of to-day will be followed by a rough and 



