i8 HORSES FOR LADIES. 



field. The sight of an '' Arabi tattoo" to an old 

 Indian like myself, revives many pleasant memories of 

 delightful equine friends in the East. The Arab is 

 par excellence the most perfect hack for a lady, and I 

 think it would be ungrateful of me in this new edition 

 to omit the portrait of my Arab pony Freddie (Fig. 7), 

 even though the cut of the riding-habit is out of date. 



Although a good horsewoman may be satisfied with 

 any animal which is fit for a man, provided he is steady 

 to mount and does not require an unusual amount of 

 collecting ; it is not safe to put an inexperienced or 

 nervous rider on a horse that has not been taught to 

 carry a habit, w^hich a groom can do by riding the 

 animal with a rug or dark overcoat on the near side, 

 and letting it flop about. Horses rarely object to the 

 presence of a skirt, though I have known cases in w^hich 

 the animal went almost wild with terror when the right 

 leg was put over the crutch. It is, therefore, wise to ac- 

 custom a horse to the skirt and leg by means of a groom. 



The fact of a lady having to ride in a side-saddle, puts 

 her under the following three disadvantages as com- 

 pared to a man in a ''cross-saddle" : she is, as a rule, 

 unable to mount without assistance ; she cannot apply 

 the pressure of the right leg to the side of the horse ; 

 and it is difficult for her " to drop her hands " in order 

 to pull him together. The judicious application of 

 a crop or ash-plant (my husband, though an Irish- 

 man, swears by a Neilgherry cane) may partly make 

 up for the absence of a leg on the off side ; but, how- 

 ever well a woman may ride, she should not have a 



