IF//AT TO Do—JVh'AT TO A row. 337 



Lady Mildred H , herself the daughter of a noble lady who was second to none in 



the hunting-field, never permitted her daughter to touch the reins until she could confidently 

 walk, trot, and canter a school horse in a figure of 8, as well as perform all the other school 

 exercises. 



Where a perfectly-trained school horse is not to be had, it is advisable to confine the 

 head of the horse used with flap-reins, buckled to a snaffle bit and to the flaps of the saddle — a 

 simple expedient, which, combined with a head-stall martingale, ought to be adopted by those 

 timid riders who will insist on prematurely appearing in fashionable parades. A horse cannot 

 bolt if thus restrained. 



The lady who has mastered the first lessons in the equestrian art, and can sit her horse 

 properly at a walk or show-school canter, is then in a position to decide whether she will 

 learn to rule her horse, or whether she is content to pass through life dependent for her 

 comfort on the temper of her steed or the close, nurse-like attention of some groom or gentle- 

 man. The horsewoman should sit so that the weight of the body falls exactly in the centre 

 of the saddle, without heavily bearing on the stirrup ; able to grasp the upright pommel 

 with the right knee, and press against the " hunting-horn " with her left knee, yet not exert- 

 ing any muscular action for that purpose. For this end the stirrup-leather must be neither too 

 long nor too short. 



The ideal of a fine horsewoman is to be erect without being rigid, square to the front, 

 and, until quite at home in the saddle, looking religiously between her horse's ears. The 

 shoulders must therefore be square, but thrown back a little, so as to expand the chest and 

 make a hollow waist, "such as is observed in waltzing," but always flexible. On the flexibility 

 of the person above the waist, and on the firmness below, all the grace of equestrianism — all the 

 safety depends. Nervousness makes both men and women poke their heads forward — a stupid 

 trick in a man, unpardonable in a woman. 



A lady should bend like a willow in a storm, always returning to an easy yet nearly 

 upright position. This scat should be acquired while the lady's horse is led, first by hand, 

 then with a leading-stick (see page 266), and finally with a lunging-rcin, which will give room 

 for cantering in circles. But where a pupil is encumbered with reins, a whip, and directions 

 for guiding her horse, she may be excused for forgetting all about her seat or her position. 

 The arms down to the elbows should hang loosely near but not fixed to the sides, and the 

 hands, in the absence of reins, may rest in front of the waist. 



Common errors arc either to sit too much over to the right, and then, in attempting to 

 balance, to lean the shoulders to the left, while the head is inelegantly twisted to the right 

 — this is when the stirrup-leather is too short ; or when the stirrup is too long, and the lady 

 ignorantly timid, sitting too much to the left, bearing hard on the stirrup — a hideous position, 

 suggestive of an early sore back for the horse. 



The error of hanging on by the pommels is carefully to be avoided. The great object 

 is to acquire a firm, well-balanced seat, without unduly depending on pommels or stirrups. 

 " Let the pupil," says an accomplished horsewoman, " practise riding in circles to the right, 

 sitting upright, but bending a little to the horse's motion, following his nose with her eye ; 

 beginning with a walk, proceed to a slow trot, increasing the action as she gains firmness in 

 the saddle." When, in a smart trot in a circle to the right, the pupil can, leaning as she 

 should to the right, see the feet of the horse on the right side, it may be assumed that she 

 has arrived at a firm seat. 



Nothing but practice, frequent but not too long continued, can establish the all-important 

 R R 



