THE HORSEWOMAN. 



CHAPTER I. 



BEGINNING TO RIDE. 



Instruction based on experience assists us in the 

 attainment of all arts, and hastens the process of 

 learning. Although a specially- gifted individual who 

 has not been taught, may be able to sing in a pleasing- 

 style, no one has ever become an accomplished pianist 

 without competent instruction ; the former being some- 

 what in the position of a man, the latter in that of a 

 lady, as regards riding. In all countries we find good 

 untaught horsemen who have got '' shaken into their 

 seats " by constant practice, with or without a saddle, 

 which in most cases is chieily a protection to the 

 animal's back. A side-saddle, on the contrary, is as 

 artificial a production as a musical instrument, and a 

 full knowledge of its peculiarities often cannot be 

 acquired during a lifetime. Here the great difference 

 between men and women is that the former ride the 

 horse ; the latter, the saddle. The tyranny of the side- 



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