10 Introduction. 



deemed capable of affording more rational and 

 innocent delight, than that of the female eques- 

 trian. Pursued in the open air, it affords a most 

 rapid, and, at the same time, exhilarating succes- 

 sion of scenic changes, at a degree of personal 

 exertion, sufficient to produce immediate pleasure, 

 without inducing the subsequent languor of fatigue. 

 Nor is riding on horseback attended with that 

 danger to ladies, attributed to it by the indolent, 

 the melancholy, and the timid. Accidents, in- 

 deed, in the side-saddle, are of extremely rare 

 occurrence. Strange as it may seem, it is, how- 

 ever, an incontrovertible fact, that horses, in gene- 

 ral, are much more docile and temperate, with 

 riders of the fair sex, than when mounted by men. 

 This may be attributed, partially, to the more 

 backward position, in the saddle, of the former 

 than the latter ; but, principally, perhaps, to their 

 superior delicacy of hand in managing the reins. 



As an active recreation, and a mode of convey- 

 ance, riding on horseback appears to have been of 

 very remote usage among our fair countrywomen. 

 During a long period, indeed, it was the only one 

 known to, or adopted by them, for the performance 

 of journeys. Such, too, appears to have been the 

 case (with some modifications) in other European 

 countries. The only voiture of the French, says 



