8 



HOESEMANSHIP FOE WOMEN. 



head was admirably carried, his trot was greatly im- 

 proved — his walk always had been light and swift — he 

 could trot sideways to the right or left, could pirouette 

 to the riglit or to the left on the hind-feet or on the 

 fore-feet, responding to the pressure of the rein upon 

 his neck or of the leg against his side, while he had be- 

 come so steady that I could fire at a mark with a pistol 

 from his back. 



All this was very satisfactory progress, especially in 

 view of my total inexperience, poor health, and the heat 

 of the weather ; but there is no doubt that any active 

 young girl of sixteen or eighteen can do the like, for it 

 was accomplished not by any mysterious or difficult proc 

 ess, nor by any exertion of physical strength, but by pa- 

 tiently following out, step by step, the processes which 

 I am about to describe, and which are substantially those 

 of Baucher, adapted to the use of a person of total in- 

 experience, and that person a lady. 



If any such, having accompanied me thus far, feels 

 the impulse to try to improve her own mount, I will 

 confide to her the fact that the incidents narrated really 

 occurred within the last few years not a hundred miles 

 from JSTew York ; and I hope that the following propo- 

 sitions, which are literally true, will help to encourage 

 her to an undertaking in which she will find amuse- 

 ment, exercise, and a discipline as useful to herself as to 

 her horse : 



1. If, as is very likely, you feel a little afraid of your 



