EAENING. 2 i 



without stiffness. Be careful not to hang 

 over upon either side, and, above all things, 

 avoid the pernicious habit of clutching 

 nervously with the right hand at the off 

 pommel to save yourseK from some imaginary 

 danger. So much does this unsightly habit 

 grow upon beginners, that, unless checked, it 

 will follow them through life. I know grown 

 women who ride every day, and the ver}'- 

 moment their horse breaks into a canter or a 

 trot they lay a grim grip upon the pommel, 

 and hold firmly on to it until the animal again 

 lapses into a walk. And this they do un- 

 consciously. The habit, given way to in 

 childhood, has grown so much into second 

 nature that to tell them of it would amaze 

 them. I once ventured to offer a gentle 

 remonstrance upon the subject to a lady with 

 whom I was extremely intimate, and she was 

 not only astonished, but so displeased with 

 me for noticing it, that she was never quite 

 the same to me afterwards ; and so salutary 

 was the lesson which I then received that I 

 have since gone upon the principle of complete 

 non-interference, and if I saw my fellow 



