26 THE BARB AND THE BRIDLE. 



CHAPTER IV. 



The manner in which a lady should approach her horse in order to 

 be assisted to mount should be carefully looked to by the instructor. 

 Anything like hurry, whUe it is calculated to render the horse 

 unsteady, is at the same time ungraceful, and the beginning of a bad 

 habit always to be avoided. 



Everything in the way of mounting or dismounting a horse, either 

 by a lady or gentleman, should be done with well-defined and deli- 

 berate, although smart motions. This precision once acquired is the 

 good habit which becomes second nature to the rider, and is so highly 

 indicative of good manners in equitation. 



To some persons the formula I am about to describe may appear 

 too punctilious, and possibly carried to too nice a point of precision. 

 But my idea is that in all these matters it is well to begin by over- 

 doing them a little. We are all more or less prone to become care- 

 less in our carriage and bearing, both on foot and horseback, as we 

 grow older ; therefore overdoing them a trifle with young people 

 may safely be pronounced an error on the right side. 



I have frequently heard the remark that it is of no consequence 

 how a man or woman gets upon a horse, provided they can ride when 

 once up. I maintain that graceful riding is true riding, and that if 

 it is worth while to ride gracefully, it is equally worth while to mount 

 gracefully. 



Let us then suppose the lady to be dressed and ready for her ride 

 in school or manege. She should take the skirt of her habit in the 

 full of both hands, holding her whip in the right ; the skirt should 

 be raised sufficiently to admit of the wearer walking freely. Then 

 she should walk from a point in the school at right angles with her 

 horse quietly to his shoulder, and face square to her left, standin g 



