SIDE-SADDLE VS. CROSS-SADDLE 83 



more to the masculine eye, than in a side-saddle, and 

 there are few places where the same woman looks less 

 graceful, less chic, or less feminine than when she is 

 attired in breeches and boots astride of a cross-saddle. 

 Young, slight, girlish figures may look fairly well in a 

 cross-saddle, but these same figures when they have 

 grown older and have become rounder and fatter, not 

 only will look dreadfully vulgar, but each year they 

 will become more and more insecure as their thighs 

 round out. Mrs. Thomas Hitchcock is one of the 

 few older women who look well, and ride well astride, 

 but her figure has always maintained its boyish ap- 

 pearance, and she is the exception that proves the rule. 



Fat does not look well on either a side-saddle or a 

 cross-saddle, but a large, portly, maironly woman 

 may still ride side-saddle with a fair degree of modesty, 

 dignity, and security, while on a cross-saddle she would 

 be a laughing-stock. The young slips of girls, who 

 now appear so attractive in their trim little breeches 

 and boots, are no standard to go by; wait until they 

 are fair, fat, and forty, and watch how many of them 

 will have given up riding because they look so queer, 

 while their more "old-fashioned" sisters will be able 

 to maintain their enjoyment in the sport until extreme 

 old age. 



It might perhaps be argued that appearances should 

 not count against comfort or safety, but I, for one, do 

 not think that there is a great enough difference in the 

 degree of safety or comfort afforded by the cross- 

 saddle over the side-saddle to warrant our disregard- 

 ing looks altogether. We women, would undoubtedly 

 be far more comfortable in trousers, could walk and 

 run and jump on street-cars better, but nevertheless 

 for the sake of looks, and looks alone, we do not adopt 



