RIDING IN RUSSIA. 393 



compared to those of Berlin, the worst of them is far 

 superior to the two miserable civilian riding schools in 

 St. Petersburg, where riding is almost entirely a mili- 

 tary function. Very few Russian women ride, although 

 history tells us that Peter III. kept a pack of hounds, 

 and that his wife, Catherine II., according to her 

 memoirs, listened to the loving solicitations of Soltikov 

 while they were riding together '' to find the dogs." 

 A saddle belonging to this amorous lady, which I saw 

 at the Hermitage, was like an Australian buck-jumping 

 saddle, with large knee rolls and a high cantle. It 

 was covered with red velvet and decorated with cowrie 

 shells. The side saddle appears to have been first 

 used in Russia by the daughters of the Emperor Paul. 

 The Duchess of Newcastle, writing in Ladies in the 

 Field, on " the untidy slipshod way the riders are often 

 turned out " in Rotten Row, terms this state of thinos 

 ''a disgrace to a country which is considered to have 

 the best horses and riders in the world," and wonders 

 what foreigners must think of the sorry spectacle. 

 This '' floppy " untidyness of riding dress appears to 

 have been introduced by the '' new woman." Twenty 

 years ago, top hats and perfectly fitting habits were de 

 rigMeur ; but now neither horses nor riders are so well 

 trained for park hacking as they were in those days. 

 The Duchess also points out that it is as cheap to be 

 clean as dirty, and there is no reason why the horses 

 should not be groomed, and their bits burnished. 



