185 



CHAPTER X. 

 FIRST LESSONS IN RIDING. 



The walk— Turnina— The halt— The trot— The canter— The gallop— Jumping— 

 Reinins: back. 



THE WALK. 



A HORSE which is held by a groom for a lady to mount, 

 will generally start ofY at a walk without any given 

 signal to do so, when the servant leaves his head, 

 unless his rider desires him to remain at the halt, when 

 she would give him a command, by saying "whoa!"; 

 and when she wants him to proceed on his journey, she 

 should say "goon," or click with the tongue. It is 

 best to put a beginner on an animal which has been 

 trained to await the commands of his rider, in order 

 that she may from her very first lesson in riding, learn 

 the rudiments of horse control. She should never jerk 

 the reins as a signal to start, because this practice is 

 very apt to confuse and consequently to irritate the 

 animal, especially as the perpetrator of this betise will, 

 in all probability, use the same means for stopping 

 him. Before she gets on his back, the instructor 

 should show how the reins should be held, and how the 

 horse should be given the order to walk. It is the 



