124 HOW WOMEN SHOULD RIDE 



shifting her hold on the reins. Quiet, 

 steady hands are indispensable to suc- 

 cess. 



By watching his stride one can tell 

 when he will take off. At that moment 



he will stretch out his neck; 

 Taking off 



then she must, by instantly push- 

 ing them forward, let her hands yield to 

 his mouth. This must be accurately cal- 

 culated, for should the pressure on his 

 mouth be varied too suddenly and at 

 the wrong time, it would throw him out 

 of his stride by letting go of his mouth 

 when he needed steadying. Some ad- 

 vocate leaning forward before leaning 

 back as the horse takes off, but the 

 slight involuntary motion communi- 

 cated to the body by thrusting the 

 hands forward will be sufficient to pre- 

 cede the backward movement. Before 

 he has finished his effort, she must lean 

 back just enough (but no farther) to 



