64 HAND-BOOK FOR HORSEWOMEN. 



panion, obliged to pull up after a few steps, puffing 

 and panting for breath. She is apt to ruin her own 

 horse ; and gentlemen who have spirited animals are 

 likely to avoid riding with her. Except in the pre- 

 scribed effects of the whip and leg, there is no defi- 

 nite position in which a lady is obliged to hold her 

 whip, and she should learn to ' carry it as suits her 

 best. She should be able to arrange her skirt while 

 at a walk, without assistance, and also to shorten or 

 lengthen her stirrup by the strap on the right side of 

 the saddle, without taking her foot out. 



From the very beginning of the lessons the teach- 

 er should suppress all the little chirpings and clack- 

 ings of the tongue, which, however useful they may 

 be to a coachman or a horse-trainer, are out of 

 place in the mouth of a lady. I was once invited 

 to accompany a lady in Central Park, in New York ; 

 and, as I had been told that she rode very well, I 

 did not hesitate to ride General, a noble animal, 

 whose education in the haute dcole I was just fin- 

 ishing. We started. She managed her horse with 

 her tongue as an effect on the right side, instead 

 of using her whip. The consequence was, that 

 my horse, hearing these appeals, and not knowing 

 whether they were meant for him or not, remained 

 at ikiQ passage all the way from the gate to the reser- 

 voir, where I took it upon myself to beg her to do 

 as she chose with her own horse, but to allow mine 

 to be under my own control. 



I recommend not giving dainties to horses be- 



