148 LADIES ON HORSEBACK. 



ia^ansfers his weight eqimlkj to his feet; but 

 liow rarely do we see a lady balanced upon 

 one leg ! Never, except it be for a single 

 instant whilst arranging her skirt or trying 

 her stirrup. The sensation is not agreeable, 

 and would be, moreover, unpleasantly pro- 

 ductive of wrung backs. 



A heavy horse is never in any way suitable 

 to a lady. It looks amiss. The trot is invariably 

 laboured, and if the animal should chance to 

 fall, he gives his rider what we know in the 

 hunting-field as " a mighty crusher ! " It is, 

 indeed, a rare thing to meet a perfect " lady's 

 horse.'* In all my wide experience I have 

 met but two. Breeding is necessary for 

 stability and speed — two things most essential 

 to a hunter ; but good light action is, for a 

 roadster, positively indispensable, and a horse 

 who does not possess it is a burden to his 

 rider, and is, moreover, exceedingly unsafe, as 

 he is apt to stumble at every rut and stone. 



The double rise may also, as I said, be quite 

 attributable to the rider. A careless way of 

 riding may occasion it, sitting loosely in the 

 saddle, and allowing your horse to go asleep 



