272 LADIES ON HORSEBACK. 



Again, in the very next paragraph, Mrs, 

 O'Donoghue says, " A man will be able ta 

 stand in his stirrups for a considerable time, 

 even to ride at a gallop, so doing because he 

 transfers his weight equally to his feet ; but 

 how rarely do we see a lady balanced upon 

 one leg ! The sensation is not agreeable, and 

 would, moreover, be unpleasantly productive 

 of wrung backs." These are verbatim extracts 

 from ** Part Three continued." I think my 

 preference for a leg on each side of my horse, 

 and a distribution of my weight equally on 

 to each foot, is most eloquently and forcibly 

 justified by Mrs. O'Donoghue when she wrote 

 the above. I did not suggest, or at any rate 

 did not mean to suggest, that she advocated 

 a cross-seat for ladies, but that she unmistak- 

 ably pointed out the great advantages of such 

 a seat her own words abundantly testify. 

 Again, some of the healthiest children I have 

 ever seen are poor little gipsy girls, who, 

 from being able to mount a donkey, have 

 always ridden astride when once past the 

 pannier period of their nomadic life. Also, 

 some of the short, stout peasant women of 



