28 UNASKED ADVICE. 



to see the lady bumping up and down in tlie canter. It 

 is a fault usually caused by too sbort a stirrup. A rough- 

 going horse will throw the best rider about more or less, 

 and is, therefore, unfit for a lady. If the horse shies at 

 anything, if possible ignore the circumstance. If he 

 stumbles, never omit to punish him by as sharp a 

 *^ chuck '' of the bit as his mouth and temper will admit 

 of. Don^t hit him with the whip, or next time he 

 stumbles he will also bolt forward. Having returning 

 home, dismounting is a very simple thing. The lady 

 takes her foot out of the stirrup, lifts the right knee off 

 the pummel, places her right hand on the pummel as in 

 mounting, and her left, if she chooses, on a gentleman^s 

 shoulder, and then slides gently down, not forgetting to 

 bend her knees on arriving at the ground to a degree 

 proportioned to the extent of the drop. She thereby 

 avoids a jar which is always uncomfortable, and some- 

 times produces a headache when the descent is from a tall 

 horse on to pavement. 



It is always well to pet one^s horse as much as circum- 

 stances allow of. The advantage of one^s horse knowing 

 one's voice and one's self need no demonstration. In 

 any emergency, if the animal adds fear of his rider to 

 other excitement, grief is a natural consequence. In town 

 it is not so easy for a lady to pet her horse. Mews are 

 not quite the places for ladies, but they can make friends 

 at the door. Last season I used daily to see a young lady 

 come in from her morning ride. She used to dismount, 

 and a very pompous butler, after opening the door, 

 descended the steps with becoming gravity, and handed 

 her a piece of sugar, which her horse anxiously awaited, 

 and usually, by reason of his bit, failed to get the full 

 advantage of. The principle was sound all the same. 



