Riding for Women and Children 149 



ance, cultivate it for the sake of your male relatives 

 and acquaintances, that they may find you a com- 

 panion and not a detriment, a help and not a burden, 

 thoroughly competent and not hopelessly helpless. 



Children should not ride before they are old 

 enough to intelligently profit by instruction, and 

 some of the very worst riders one will find are from 

 the ranks of those who literally rode as soon as they 

 could walk, and being self-taught, were very badly 

 instructed. Seven or eight is quite young enough, 

 and it should be made a sine qua iion that the child 

 must care for its pony, clean, feed, and saddle it — 

 it's all a part of the education, and if interest flags, 

 get rid of the little beast before he reaches the time 

 when indifference breeds neglect and familiarity 

 contempt. 



Never have the very small ponies, nor donkeys, 

 at any price. They are usually low-headed, hard- 

 mouthed, straight-shouldered, thick-bodied, treacher- 

 ous little wretches, neither half-broken nor quarter- 

 mouthed. Your child gets heavy hands and a 

 callous indifference to the use of the whip almost 



