INTRODUCTION. 



19 



hand. But, even so recently as Garsault's time, the 

 saddle in ordinary use, by French women, was, we 

 learn from his work on equitation, still, a kind of pillion, 

 on which the rider sate, diagonally, with both feet 

 resting on a broad suspended ledge or stirrup. The 

 pillion in this countiy has not yet become obsolete ; 

 being still, frequently, to be seen, on the backs of 

 donkies and hack ponies, at watering places. During 

 the early part of the present century, its employment 

 continued to be general. It was fixed behind a man's 

 saddle, on the croup of a steady horse, trained to gc 



at an easy though shuffling pace between a walk and 

 a trot. The groom, or gentleman, equipped with a 

 broad leathern belt buckled about his waist — by which 

 the lady secured her position, in case of need — first 

 mounted; and his fair companion was then lifted, 

 backwards, and behind him, into her seat. In an old 

 work on horsemanship, Avritten by one William 



B 2 



