8 INTRODUCTION. 



a most rapid, and, at the same time, exhilarating suc- 

 cession of scenic changes, at a degree of personal 

 exertion, sufficient to produce immediate pleasure, 

 without inducing the subsequent languor of fatigue. 



Nor is riding on horseback attended with that 

 danger to ladies, attributed to it by the indolent, the 

 melancholy, and the timid. Accidents, indeed, in the 

 side-saddle, are of extremely rare occiu-rence. Strange 

 as it may seem, it is, however, an incontrovertible fact, 

 that horses, in general, are much more docile and tem- 

 perate, with riders of the fair sex, than when mounted 

 by men. This may be attributed, partially, to the more 

 backward position, in the saddle, of the former than 

 the latter; but, principally, perhaps, to their superior 

 delicacy of hand in managing the reins. 



As an active recreation, and a mode of convevance, 

 riding on horseback appears to have been of very 

 remote usage among our fair countrywomen. During 

 a long period, indeed, it was the only one known to, 

 or, adopted by them, for the performance of journies. 

 Such, too, appears to have been the case (with some 

 modifications) in other European countries. The only 

 voiture of the French, says Garsault, until the reign of 

 Charles the Sixth, was the back of the horse or mule : 

 neither Kings, Queens, Princes, nor subjects were ac- 

 quainted with any other. In the time of that monarch, 

 litters, borne by two horses, first appeared ; but these 

 were uncovered, and used, only, by ladies of the court. 



