78 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



feel quite sure that none of my friends who ride side- 

 saddle are one-sided. In fact, I have never noticed 

 the lop-sidedness so much talked about in women 

 who ride side-saddle. It is an exploded theory. 



(3) The idea that a horse has to be especially broken 

 in order to be ridden side-saddle originated in the 

 days when women wore long flowing skirts. It was 

 quite natural that in those days a horse was afraid of 

 a woman's skirt, but with the modern habit there is 

 little danger on that score. I do not mean to deny 

 that in order to show a horse to perfection, or to have 

 him go his best out hunting under a side-saddle, it is 

 well to accustom him to the different distribution of 

 weight, and to the fact that his rider can only touch 

 him with a leg on one side; but a good rider, or even a 

 moderate one, need seldom fear to use a side-saddle 

 on an otherwise broken horse who is, perchance, 

 unacquainted with it. He may possibly act a bit 

 strangely at first, but unless he is particularly bad- 

 tempered he will seldom do more. If a beginner, or 

 mediocre rider, is to mount a horse who has never 

 previously carried a side-saddle, it might be wise as 

 an added precaution to have a groom wear a blanket 

 or rug around his legs and ride the animal for a few 

 moments, so as to accustom him to the skirt, and to 

 the raising of the rider's right leg when putting it 

 over the pommel in mounting. This precaution, how- 

 ever, is unnecessary in most cases. 



(4) The idea that a woman riding a side-saddle runs 

 more danger of being dragged, in case she is thrown, 

 than she would if she were in a cross-saddle, is also a 

 charge, the origin of which can be traced to the days 

 when women wore fuller habits, or even so-called 

 ''patent-safety" skirts , which, in nine cases out of ten, 



