93 



ease and with only a slight motion. The 

 rider is square t<:» her front and sits in the 

 centre of her saddle. If those ladies who 

 ride obliquely, facing their left front, 

 swinging their legs and rising high in the 

 air, could see themselves at the trot as 

 others see them, they would be ready to 

 suffer much inconvenience and make great 

 sacrifices to unlearn so unsightly and 

 injurious a habit It must not, however, 

 be inferred that to become a fairly good 

 rider a lady requires three months without 

 rising in the stirrup. A shorter time may 

 make a considerable improvement, but as 

 with soldiers, so with horsewomen, it is 

 the long period without rising that gives 

 the strongest and best seat and conse- 

 quently the best hands. 



With regard to the general principle, 

 some writers insist that until bewmers 

 have been well established in the saddle 

 they should not be allowed to touch 

 the reins. This is theoretically correct 

 but it is less necessary in the case of ladies. 

 Young riders keep themselves in their 

 place with the help of the bridle, but there 

 are practical difficulties to be met with 

 when an attempt is made to deprive them 



