Chapter XV, 



EQUESTRIANISM. 



THAT there is no exercise to be compared with horseback-rid- 

 ing is conceded by all well-read physicians, as well as by all la- 

 dies and gentlemen who have given it a test. One has only to 

 look at a person returning from a ride on the saddle to see at once 



the beneficial result. -The tinge 

 on the cheek, and ruddy glow 

 on the whole face and neck, is 

 a positive assurance of the fact. 

 It will prove a sure cure for dys- 

 pepsia in its worst form, if one 

 will but persevere in the de- 

 lightful recreation. But some 

 one will say, "Oh, I cannot ride 

 horseback ; it is too violent an 

 exercise." And why ? Simply 

 because the attempt is made 

 without any knowledge of the 

 art, if it may be so called. The 

 fundamental principle of the art 

 of learning to ride is to learn 

 one thing at a time t and learn 

 to do that well, before attempt- 

 ing to do anything else. The 

 first thing to learn is how to sit 

 upon a horse. One should be- 

 come perfectly at home in a 

 saddle upon a constantly mov- 

 ing horse, so that whether it 

 walks, trots, canters, shies, or jumps, he will either not lose, or will 

 immediately regain, his position. The proper seat is a firm one in 

 the saddle, With the legs below the knee free, and the body above 

 the waist supple and pliable. Whatever movement the horse makes, 

 whether to the right or left, or tipping backward or forward* the 

 hips must conform to it, while the legs from the knees downward 



(286j 



Fig. 352. — Horseback-riding. 



