LADY'S SEAT. 25 



entirely on that of the hips. The two legs being on the left, 

 the right leg is hooked round the upper crutch, and is more 

 advanced and higher than the left leg, which presses against 

 the leaping-head, a little above the knee, and the foot rests 

 in the stirrup. 



It has been proposed that ladies should sit on the right side 

 of the saddle. English and American journals have dwelt on 

 the bad effects of girls on only one side of the horse, and they 

 have tried to make out that this practice causes curvature of 

 the spine. As I judge only by practical observations, I can- 

 not say how it would affect children of five or six years old ; 

 but as I have often taught beginners of twelve or thirteen 

 years old, I can certify most positively that girls of that age 

 have nothing to fear on that score. 



I am well aware that in England and America young girls 

 are given their first lesson in riding by coachmen and grooms, 

 who are apt to teach wrongly and to pass over, and even 

 accentuate faults. The same remark applies to many riding- 

 masters who have studied both theory and practice, and who 

 succeed, only after a long course of teaching, in correcting 

 small mistakes, which are apt to become greater. 



I maintain that if a lady is taught by a good master, her 

 figure, instead of being spoiled by riding exclusively on the 

 left side of the saddle, will increase in grace and suppleness. 

 We may therefore continue to make ladies ride only on the 

 left side. Placing her on the right side would be accompanied 

 by the serious inconvenience of making her hold the whip in 

 her left hand, which she cannot use as easily as her right. 

 Her whip hand acts the part of a horseman's leg. 



The position of a lady on the left side of a saddle causes 

 almost all the weight of her body to be carried to the right 

 side ; consequently, the left hip being freer from weight, is 

 apt to be stuck out behind the right hip, which is a fault 

 that ought to be avoided. The weight of the body ought to 



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