^64 LADIES ON HOESEBACK. 



** Hersilie " in thinking that the habits of the 

 present day are indelicately short, and I cannot 

 see that ladies ride s>ny better showing their 

 boots and with their arms akimbo than they 

 did a year or so ago, when their feet were 

 covered and no daylight showed between their 

 arms. I come of as ** horsey" a family as 

 any in England, and have ridden ever since I 

 •could sit upright ; but I never experienced, or 

 knew that my sisters experienced, any of the 

 troubles ''X. Y. Z. " and ^* Hersilie " com- 

 plain of. My father, who was our sole 

 instructor, put us on any animal that he 

 thought likely to suit his own riding, and no 

 matter where we were, in the hunting-field or 

 elsewhere, the least deviation from sitting 

 square would bring from him the sharp repri- 

 mand of, '' What are you doing ? Bring that 

 left shoulder up, and don't let me see any 

 daylight between your arms ! " He also 

 insisted that our stirrups should be short, even 

 to discomfort, until we got used to it ; but this 

 prevented any chance of our hurting the 

 horse's back, which most frequently comes 

 from a lady riding with a long stirrup, and 



