THE POSITION. 299 



on his back. Being seated witli her right hand still on the 

 pommel, the lady will, with her left hand, adjust the folds 

 of her skirt. She Avill then remove her hand from the pom- 

 mel, and place her right knee over it; when the gentleman 

 will place her foot in the stirrup, and then aid her in tak- 

 ing -proper hold of the reins and whip. When this is 

 accomplished, the attendant at the horse's head steps out 

 of the way, and the lady assumes the control. Fortunately, 

 the operation is less tedious than its description. 



DiSMOUNTiiCG. — A lady dismounts with perfect ease. 

 After the groom has taken his place in front of the horse and 

 secured him, by releasing her hold upon the bridle and 

 stirrup and lifting her right leg over the pommel, which she 

 now holds with the right hand, while the left, on the 

 shoulder, or in the hand of her gallant, affords her suffi- 

 cient support in slipping to the ground. 



THE POSITION. 



The Seat in the Sidesaddle. — The lady should, by 

 exercises similar to those recommended for gentlemen, en- 

 deavor to acquire a perfect independence of the rein-hold in 

 the security of her seat. She should be able to lean far to 

 the right or to the left, or lie back on the horse's haunches, 

 or forward on his neck, and to regain her position without 

 disturbing her seat in the saddle, and without holding by 

 the reins. With the use of the leaping-horn it will be 

 more easy for her to attain perfection, in this respect, than 

 it will be for the man, who must depend in a great measure 

 on the clip of his legs. 



We introduce a series of cuts to show the difference be- 

 tween good and bad positions in the sidesaddle. Fig. 38 

 represents the proper position, the figure being erect, di- 

 rectly over the horse's spine, the shoulders at an equal 

 height, and the elbows near the sides. Fig. 39 shows a more 



