86 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



ment, for to become and remain a really good rider 

 requires constant practice and constant watchfulness 

 against faults and slipshod ways. Perfection in any 

 line is "not built up by single efforts . . . but by the 

 repetition of small acts in every day experiences." 



Of all the qualities that go to make up a fine rider, 

 a good seat is, perhaps, the most important, for on it 

 depend hands, grace, safety, and much of all that 

 makes up horsemanship. 



The perfect seat, for either man or woman, is that 

 which combines the maximum amount of security and 

 grace with the minimum amount of fatigue to either 

 horse or rider. Grace must be present in the ideal 

 seat as well as security, for we cannot afford to banish 

 beauty and grace from our riding or our sports any 

 more than from any other branch of life. Correct 

 form is more than a mere fad — it is adhering as closely 

 as possible to the ideal seat. 



As both security and grace depend largely on the 

 proper position assumed in the saddle, this must, of 

 necessity, be our first consideration. 



The proper position for a side-saddle rider, which 

 remains the same at any gait except for a slight supple 

 movement above the waist, is as follows: She should 

 sit squarely and firmly in the saddle, very much in the 

 same easy and graceful position that she might seat 

 herself sidewise on a sofa, with the exception that her 

 shoulders must be at right angles to the horse's ears. 

 In order to assume this perfectly square seat her right 

 thigh should be parallel with the horse's back-bone. Very 

 few instructors seem to be aware of this important 

 detail, and merely urge their pupils to sit squarely, 

 which they do by twisting around from the waist up, a 

 position which is extremely fatiguing, unnatural, and 



