A man who has good

handle reins, and to impossible for him to

at some watering place, is, in many respects, most objectionable, and, to say the least of it, is a waste of time and money, for a woman cannot learn to ride well by such means. hands himself may teach a woman how to humour her horse's mouth; but it is quite teach her how to sit in her saddle, from the simple fact that he cannot do it himself. A man is as much at sea in a side-saddle as a landsman would be if he were sent up to the mast-head without having learned in early youth how "to hold on by his eyelids!"

I am continually told that a side-saddle must hurt a horse's back unless the animal has long been accustomed to carry a lady; but there is no greater mistake than to suppose that to be a necessary consequence. If the saddle fits the horse, and the rider sits straight, there will be no more mark on the horse's back than from a man's saddle; but I candidly confess that these two points are not very easy to attain—firstly, because one seldom finds more than one sidesaddle, or at most two, in ordinary saddle-rooms, and they do not fit horses so easily as a man's saddle, and the second point can only be acquired by practice. The saddle must not only fit the horse properly, but it ought to suit the rider equally well; and this latter and most important point is in most cases completely ignored. I hold that for the rider to be comfortably seated goes a long way towards preventing the saddle from injuring the horse's back. When a saddler makes a side-saddle to order, he invariably wishes the lady to see it in progress at his shop, and to sit on it for him to judge of the position of the pommels; but in default of personal measurement, in sending a written order the lady should be very particular to describe her height, and whether she possesses long or short legs, for to be correct in this last respect is of great importance, as far as comfort in the saddle goes. If the rider has short legs, and is put into a long saddle, her right leg will not have a proper grasp of the centre pommel, and she will thereby feel less secure in her seat, besides being uncomfortable; and the same argument applies to long legs in a short saddle with even greater force. It is also most necessary that the third pommel should come exactly in the right place, for if it is placed too low it will press on the rider's leg, and it ought not to be felt unless it is wanted. Many persons advocate extra straps on a side-saddle-called balance straps!—with a view to keeping it straight; but this is a most absurd and erroneous idea, for if the rider does not sit straight, or the saddle does not fit the horse, all the straps that ever came out of a saddler's shop will not keep the saddle in its place, and, for my own part, I even

object to the usual outside strap attached to side-saddles; it is simply useless lumber.

Having procured a suitable saddle, the next step is to learn to sit on it, and without experience this is not so simple as it looks. Nothing but constant practice will give either a good or a secure seat ; balance is the great point, and, this gained, security will be the result. Many a woman will have a pretty and graceful seat on horseback, but it does not follow that it is a good one, and a good and secure seat may not always be a graceful one. When the horse is going only at a foot pace the rider may appear to sit straight and well, but put him into a trot and then let us watch-the lady is now all on one side, leaning well in her stirrup, so as to rise to the action of the horse, leaving a great space of saddle on the off side; this is, not as it should be. It is quite possible for a woman to sit as straight in trotting as at a slower pace, and she should not attempt to rise solely from the stirrup, for by so doing she brings the saddle out of its place, and a sore back is probably the consequence. She ought to rise from her right knee, pressing it down between the pommels, and then there will be no fear of the saddle moving. If the rider cannot accomplish this at first, she should practise a few times without a stirrup, and she will then realise the merit of the plan suggested, both in keeping the saddle straight and securing her own balance.

In these days of extra pommels a stirrup is not necessary to a lady in the same degree that stirrups are to a man, and if it were dispensed with in a beginner, till her balance in the saddle is certain, we should not see ladies "working" in their saddles, for they would then have no lever to enable them to wriggle about, and it is this same wriggling that gives so many sore backs, which a quiet, firm seat never does.

To revert to a previous remark on the rarity of good horsewomen, I again repeat it, but I use the term as distinguished from "plucky" or hard riders. Women who combine these qualities, and who ride well to hounds, are generally mounted on good hunters who know their business, and their riders being ignorant of their danger they get the credit of being good riders, though it does not follow that they are good horsewomen; but if one of the number can add the latter accomplishment to the list she gains a hundred per cent. of pleasure more than her sister equestrians.

One often hears men say that such a horse in their stable pulls so hard that there is little pleasure in riding him, although he is perfect in every other respect, and yet that he is as quiet as a lamb with a lady, because all women have light hands. This is so far true that a woman's hand must be lighter than a man's, for the reason that there

is less weight of muscle; and when a horse with a fretful mouth has been continually pulled at by the heavy hand of a man, or ridden much at exercise by grooms, who do more to ruin horses' mouths than any one, and then feels the lighter one of a woman, he naturally goes more pleasantly, and ceases to pull because he is not pulled at. I do not deny that there are men with hands as light and delicate in the handling of a horse's mouth as those of any woman, and if the generality of men were to hold on less by their horse's mouth they would not find so many hard pullers to complain of. Not but what it is an advantage to a powerful horse, that has to carry sixteen stone or more, if he can carry some of the weight in his mouth—that is to say, be allowed to lean a little on his bit. A woman's hands ought to be by nature light, but many are hard and without any elasticity of wrist or finger, and these require special training to acquire the art of using the reins lightly. It is very surprising to see how many riders there are of both sexes who, when they have once got hold of the reins, are afraid of letting them go again, and this is one cause of "deadness" of hand; and another consequence is that if the horse ducks his head or alters the position in any way the rider's body goes with the reins instead of holding them with ease, so as to allow of the arm only following the vagaries of the horse's head.

Few people agree with respect to the bit most suitable for a lady's horse, but my own opinion is that a plain double bridle is the best, and of as light a kind as can be to suit his mouth. The Dimchurch curb, with its moveable mouthpiece, is the best I know among bits that can be light or sharp according to the height of the port. It is also insisted on by many persons that it is better for a lady to use only the curb and to allow the bridoon to hang loose, with the idea that the rider has more purchase, and that it will make the horse go more on his haunches; but if the horse has not been properly trained to bring his hind legs well under him, or his make and shape are impediments, a sharp bit will not have the desired effect, and if the rider only uses the curb all chance of learning "hand" is gone. The rider ought to use both reins in quick paces, slackening or tightening each according to the pace she wishes to go and to the horse's eagerness at the moment and if she can only learn to do this, and never to keep a dead pull, and to understand the merit and advantage of thus playing with her horse's mouth, she will have advanced a great way towards becoming a good horsewoman.

Those who begin as children in the country have a great advantage over their sisters whom circumstances have prevented from ever getting on a horse until they have arrived at woman's estate. These

have a hard task before them, and their teachers a still harder one, particularly if they are self-sufficient damsels who, seeing others ride, think that it is only necessary to procure a habit and a horse to enable them to hold their own either in Rotten Row or even in the hunting field. I am not making this assertion without personal knowledge of several instances of this same self-sufficiency and the terrible accidents that have been the natural consequences. To attain perfection in the art of riding, a woman ought not only to have begun in early childhood, but she and her pony must understand each other thoroughly, so that when she is old enough to be trusted out riding alone, she can make her pony her companion and friend, be able to get on and off without assistance, in search of wild flowers, nuts, or any similar country pursuit. As her pony gives place to a horse, the latter will become equally her friend; and to go out with her horse for a "schooling" ride will be as natural a mode of taking air and exercise as a drive in the family carriage, or a prim constitutional walk with the governess or companion, would be to the more conventionally brought up young woman. We need hardly ask which is likely to prove the more cheerful and healthy of the two. An experienced horsewoman should always wear a spur when out alone or on a "schooling" expedition, as she will know when and how to use it, and a horse will always go better up to his bit when he knows his rider has a spur-but I do not by any means recommend a beginner to wear one, as she may use it unconsciously. These "schooling" rides which I suggest will have the effect of making a horse much more handy in the hunting field as well as for hack riding. And he will not mind being turned away from other horses, if he has been accustomed to jump in cold blood; he and his rider will also be more clever at opening gates. This may seem a superfluous remark, but experience has taught me how few men there are who know how to open a gate, and still fewer women; and however much hard riders may scorn gates, being able to open them is a very necessary accomplishment both for hack riding and hunting. Many men are unable to catch a gate when it is opened, much less to open it and fling it for those who follow. It has often happened to me in going from covert to covert, and even when hounds have been running, that a gentleman has kindly offered to open a gate for me, and on accepting his assistance I found him unable to do so and I have opened it for him instead.

The kind of "schooling" before mentioned not only improves the horse, but goes a long way towards perfecting his rider's hand, for the horse may not always be in the same temper, and he may require

more patience and humouring one day than he does another, but in a short time the greatest confidence will be established between the two, and the horse is such a noble animal that he will do far more for his friend than he will do for the mere master or mistress who only cares to ride him for the sake of exercise or the excitement of a gallop and he repays one thoroughly for any trouble one takes in training him. The woman who has learned to ride in this exceptional manner will be much less dependent on others in the hunting field, whether she wishes to ride hard or only to follow the line by means of lanes and gaps, with an occasional fence, and we shall never hear complaints of her "being in the way," and that the "hunting field is no place for a woman," and other uncomplimentary remarks, which I must say have not surprised me when I see ladies galloping about, utterly ignorant as to why they gallop, annoying the whole field, and most of all their male friend, father, or brother as the case may be, whom they have persuaded to take them out for a day's hunting. If a lady is to go out hunting in any fashion let her be able to take care of herself, so that if her chaperon, to keep near the hounds, is obliged to take a stiffer line than she or her horse is equal to, she need not be a clog on him, but let her follow others who ride less hard without feeling it necessary to appeal to them for help or protection, and after a little experience she will discover many who, although no longer able to ride straight to hounds, being thorough sportsmen, are no mean pilots to pin her faith on. And to arrive at this feeling of independence and self-reliance a woman must have learned to ride in the country in the unconventional manner I have described. It may be argued that this training will make her "horsey; " but in that result as a necessary consequence I do not agree at all, for in most cases the more she really knows on the subject the more quiet she will be. The really "horsey" damsel in the "slang" meaning of the term is usually “slangy" in other respects, and on horseback she squares her elbows, holding her hands anywhere but as they ought to be held, frets her horse to death, thinking by such means to attract notice for her good horsemanship, and will engage in "horsey" talk, probably proving thereby how completely ignorant she is of the horse, his nature, and his ways. Let us see this showy lady at the covert side, and listen to her conversation, and then compare her with yonder quiet-looking woman, perfectly "got up," with her hair, whatever the prevailing fashion may be, neatly dressed close to her head, and the hat firmly set on. There is nothing to attract the attention of the general public; there is no squaring of the elbows or show about her, and she is quite content to exchange a few words with acquaintances VOL. X., N.S. 1873.

P