32 2 The Book of the Horse. 



and all details should be seen to, so as not to require repairs and delay when the horses are 

 at the door — no buttons wanting, no hooks or eyes to be sewed on." 



In commencing to learn to ride it is not at all necessary to begin with an expensive habit 

 or complete costume. Any sort of dark skirt, with one of the numerous patterns of yachting 

 jackets, buttoning loosely round the figure, and any quiet-shaped straw or felt hat that will 

 not fall ofif, will do for early practice. When the pupil has reached the stage for riding in public, 

 then a complete and a correct costume, according to the fashion of the time, may be ordered. 

 But from the first day of the first lesson, suitable boots and underclothing made on correct 

 principles, are indispensable. 



"The body of the habit," says Mrs. Stirling Clarke, "should be carefully made to fit the 

 breast, ample room being always allowed across the chest, which expands in riding. It should 

 be carefully cut, so as to be wide enough at the back of the neck, thus avoiding the disagree- 

 able tightness which is a compion fault in ill-made habits. The waist must not be too long, 

 in fact ; if not shorter than the bodies of most dresses it will wrinkle." The sleeves must no- 

 where be tight, for both arms are required to be actively used. 



Youthful and slim figures look well in plain jackets fitting like a skin. Ladies who are 

 fully developed, not to say stout, will look better in a loose jacket coming down to the saddle, 

 cut to the shape, but not adhering to the figure. 



The grand principle in ordering the jacket is to have it so easy that the wearer could in 

 it with comfort play at any outdoor game in which ladies take part. 



For winter, a riding-jacket is sometimes made exactly like a man's, \vith a waistcoat. An 

 overcoat trimmed with fqr, like a hussar's pelisse, is a comfortable addition in cold weather, 

 besides having the advantage of displaying the rider's taste and luxury in one of the most 

 genuine of female decorations — expensive fur. 



As to the skirt, a lady, an authority on the subject, says, "Unless the cloth be full broad- 

 cloth width, it must have two breadths and a half in the skirt to afford an easy and graceful 

 flow of drapery for use in riding in or near a town ; a hunting skirt is a special garment." 



To have the skirt too long, even for park display, is a mistake. It is always dangerous, 

 as likely to catch the horse's feet ; and in muddy weather becomes an unsightly, uncomfortable 

 drag. For country rides, a habit need only be long enough to hang gracefully over the feet, 

 but leather linings should be carefully avoided. In the season of 1878 the Park riders, who had 

 almost swept the Row with their absurdly long habits, rushed into the other extreme and wore 

 skirts so short that very often the boots were discovered. But fashions are so eccentric that I 

 leave the paragraph against long skirts, written in 1870. 



Economy is often important to a father with a number of daughters able and willing to 

 ride ; but it is no economy to go to a man not accustomed to make ladies' habits or ladies' 

 riding-boots — these are specialities, especially the former. 



As to the head-dress, there are only two rules that can be safely laid down, looking at the 

 constant changes of fashion, frpm the hideous to the elegant, and from the beautiful back to 

 the frightful, within the twenty-five years ending in 1874. 



First, it should fit so as neither to fall out of place nor fall off; for a horsewoman to have 

 to hold on her hat under any circumstances is absurd, and may be dangerous. Ne.xt, it should 

 become the face. The chimney-pot suits some faces admirably, others not at all. The man}' 

 variations of the Spanish hat, the deerstalker, &c., have the advantage of being properly 

 completed by a plume or rosette of brilliant and appropriate colour. 



Formerly something ought to have been said abopt dressing the hair ; bqt as the damsels 



