98 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



There is nothing prettier than a well-executed trot, 

 and nothing more deplorable than a bad one. Rising 

 to the trot is called by the French le trot Anglaise, but 

 strangely enough the majority of Englishwomen do 

 not rise as gracefully to the trot as might be expected, 

 considering what wonderful horsewomen they are on 

 the whole. 



Many hard-riding, cross-country English and Irish 

 women are unable to execute a graceful trot at all, 

 and I venture to say that in spite of the fact that here 

 in America we have only one good rider to their ten, 

 you will, nevertheless, see more women rising to a 

 trot neatly and gracefully in Madison Square Garden 

 than at Olympia or in Hyde Park. 



This is, of course, due to the fact that in England 

 the trot is but sparingly indulged in, and also because 

 so many English and Irish women sit one step and rise 

 on the alternate one, which, although it may look un- 

 graceful, is less fatiguing when once learned, and better 

 adapted to long jogs from covert at a hound trot. 



To rise to the trot really well, the right leg as well as 

 the left should remain in exactly the same position as 

 when at a standstill or at a walk, and should not swing 

 to and fro like a pendulum. In fact, in all the three 

 gaits the legs should always remain in identically the 

 same position. 



The left leg of a woman in a side-saddle hangs and 

 acts in a manner similar to the way it would were she 

 riding cross-saddle. I noticed this little fact whenever 

 I, on rare occasion, rode cross-saddle; that whereas 

 my right leg felt clumsy and awkward, my left leg had 

 so long been accustomed to being held in just this 

 same position that it at once felt quite at home. 



As already stated, the rider's weight in the saddle 



