194 FIRST LESSONS IN RIDING. 



a long stirrup would obtain her grip by bringing back 

 the left leg as in Fig. 97 and pressing against the 

 leaping-head high up on the thigh, which would give 

 her a very insecure and ungraceful seat. I have seen 

 ladies trying to trot with the left leg, from hip to foot, 

 swinging about like the pendulum of a clock, as if they 

 had no knee-joint at all. When we see an effort to 

 trot with a stiff left leg swinging along the horse's 

 shoulder, we may safely conclude that the rider has her 

 stirrup too long, and knows nothing about the art of 

 trotting, or that the leaping-head of her saddle is placed 

 so low down on the near side that she is unable to ride 

 in it, and has to stick on as best she can. As we do 

 not use the leaping-head in trotting, its position on 

 the saddle may appear unimportant, but this is not 

 the case ; for, even if a lady has her stirrup at its 

 correct length, the fact of the leaping-head being- 

 placed low down on the near side, compels her to ride 

 with her stirrup longer than she would have to do if 

 this crutch were properly placed. The farther it is 

 away from the upper crutch, the greater difficulty will a 

 lady have in rising at the trot. I have tried to ride in 

 saddles in which I have found trotting such a tiring 

 business, and requiring so much muscular exertion on 

 my part, that it was much more comfortable for me not 

 to rise, but to bump in military fashion. Many ladies, 

 probably from the same reason, never rise in the trot. 

 It is both wrong and unkind to put girls on bad 

 saddles and then reproach them for not sitting straight 

 at the trot, for I have found it absolutely impossible to 



