THE HORSEWOMAN 237 



from the hip to the knee without laming the 

 horse. 



A lady should sit square in her saddle. Mrs. 

 Hayes I know is of opinion that ''we cannot sit 

 absolutely ' square ' (having our shoulders at 

 right angles to the direction of our mount) 

 without keeping our body in a stiff position, 

 which in a short time will be productive of dis- 

 comfort and fatigue." Which is all well enough 

 and quite true, but for all practical purposes I see 

 no difference between her illustration of the 

 correct seat and the square one. Certainly the 

 right shoulder should not be forward ; equally as 

 certainly it should not be so far back as to put 

 the rider in a constrained position. It is a great 

 mistake to think that only those who have ridden 

 in childhood can make accomplished horse- 

 women. I have known some excellent horse- 

 women who were never on a side saddle — I had 

 almost said, never saw one — till they were well 

 past twenty. As a rule ladies who begin riding at 

 this age or later get on much better than men do. 

 In the first place, with most of them there is a 

 strong liking for animals and a wish to excel in 

 their management which is not found always in 

 men. The latter who start riding at this period of 

 their life are not always keen, and where there is 

 no interest there is no success. Very few ladies 

 taking to riding who are not very keen about it. 



Miss Eva Christy who writes with knowledge 

 on side-saddle riding says very sensibly, ''The 

 surest way of contracting bad habits is to con- 



