114 



HORSEMANSHIP FOE WOMEN. 



your crop against his right side back of the girth, and 

 raising the left snaffle-rein. While doing so, draw back 

 yonr left shoulder so as to throw your weight on the 

 right side. If he does not take the hint at once, do not 

 be discouraged, but practise him in some quiet place, 

 choosing, if possible, a corner where the turn is uphill ; 

 and when he does well, pat him and make much of 

 him, for you will find that no one of your admirers is 

 more sensitive to your praises than he. This matter of 

 turning is well worth all the trouble it may cost you, as 

 it will give you a lively pleasure to find your horse's 

 powerful limbs moving sympathetically to the gentle 

 impulses of a woman's hand, and, besides, it lends an 

 air of style and savoir-faire which will be fully appre- 

 ciated by every looker-on who knows anything what- 

 ever about riding. Be particular to lean over towards 

 the centre of the curve you are describina- at an ano^le 

 proportionate to the speed, just as the horse does him- 

 self, that is, leaning to the right side as he wheels to 

 the right, and to the left when he wheels to the left. 

 It is well not to let him cut off his corners, but to pre- 

 serve the same distance from the centre of the road, 

 just as if you were riding in company, and when this 

 last is the case be careful to keep exactly abreast both 

 on the straight road and on the turns, for there is noth- 

 ing that looks more countrified than to see riders strag- 

 gling along irregularly like a party of mechanics out for 

 a stroll on a Sunday afternoon. 



