THE BAEB AND THE BEIDLE. 69 



It is not the case of putting a young lady upon an old tittuping 

 liack that can do little else than canter along behind the bridle and 

 " drag his toe " at a walk. A horse that has any action or quality 

 in him, and has been taught to trot up to his bridle, requires " ask- 

 ing" to canter, and in the early efforts of the pupil requires keeping 

 to his -work a little after he has struck off in his canter, otherwise he 

 will drop into a trot again. Such a horse, however, is the only one 

 upon which to teach a lady to ride. The easy-going old hack above 

 alluded to is fit only for an invalid to take the air on. At the same 

 iiime it is asking a good deal from the pupil in her early cantering 

 lessons to keep her horse up to his work, and to maintain her own 

 position correctly ; and if she exhibits a little stiffness or formality 

 (if I may use the expression) at first, it may fairly be passed 

 over untn increased confidence permits the master to give his atten- 

 tion to what I may perhaps call the "unbending" of his pupil. 

 After a few days' cantering as above described, the lady may begin 

 to collect her horse ; and by this time also she should be fitted 

 -with a spur, of which the best I know is Latchford's patent. 

 An opening in the skirt on the inside is necessary. The shank of 

 -the spur should not be too short, otherwise it is very apt to cut 

 holes in the habit. The pupil, when the spur is first fitted on, 

 should be cautioned to keep her left toe as near the horse's side as 

 the heel, in order to avoid hitting him when he does not require it ; 

 :and, indeed, the wearing of the steel aid is in itseK a good exercise as 

 -to the true position of the left leg, while the blunt head of a Latch - 

 ford (when not pressed hard to the horse's side) does away with any 

 danger. 



The use of the spur in a lady's riding is objected to by some ; but 

 I cannot consider any rider (man or woman) worthy of the name 

 who cannot use one and be safe "^enough in the saddle at the 

 .same time. One objection to spurs for ladies is, that they are apt 

 to do all sorts of mischief in the event of the lady being thrown from 

 lier horse. Now, the latter is a contingency which (except in the 

 hunting field) I do not admit as possible, if the lady has men about 

 her who know their business in the horse way. If she has not such 

 j)eople about her, she is better without spurs decidedly ; and 



