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diff --git a/29248.txt b/29248.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e1f0adc --- /dev/null +++ b/29248.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2229 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Young Lady's Equestrian Manual, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Young Lady's Equestrian Manual + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: June 26, 2009 [EBook #29248] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG LADY'S EQUESTRIAN MANUAL *** + + + + +Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. A list of corrections +is found at the end of the text. + + + + +THE YOUNG LADY'S EQUESTRIAN MANUAL. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration: THE YOUNG LADY'S EQUESTRIAN MANUAL.] + +E.LANDELLS.S. + +LONDON. WHITEHEAD AND COMP^Y. 76, FLEET STREET. MDCCCXXXVIII. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PREFACE. + + +The following pages contain a Treatise on the Art of Riding on +Horseback, for Ladies, which originally appeared in the Publishers' +well-known Manual of elegant feminine Recreations, Exercises, and +Pursuits, THE YOUNG LADY'S BOOK; with, however, various additions to the +Text, and a number of new Illustrations and Embellishments. + +In offering the Treatise, thus improved and adorned, in a separate form, +the Publishers, it need scarcely be said, have been influenced, +materially, by that high and most extensive patronage, which, under +Royal auspices, has been conferred by the ladies of this country, since +the commencement of the present reign, on the Art of which it is the +subject. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +CONTENTS. + + + Page + INTRODUCTION 7 + EQUESTRIAN TECHNICALITIES 23 + THE LADY'S HORSE 26 + PERSONAL EQUIPMENTS 31 + ACCOUTREMENTS FOR THE HORSE 33 + RULES OF THE ROAD 34 + MODE OF MOUNTING 36 + MANAGEMENT OF THE REINS 41 + THE SEAT AND BALANCE 44 + AIDS AND DEFENCES 51 + SOOTHINGS AND ANIMATIONS 55 + CORRECTIONS 58 + VICES 60 + EXERCISES IN THE PACES 71 + THE WALK 73 + THE TROT 79 + THE CANTER 81 + THE GALLOP 84 + STOPPING AND BACKING 85 + LEAPING 87 + DISMOUNTING 91 + CONCLUDING REMARKS 95 + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE YOUNG LADY'S EQUESTRIAN MANUAL. + +[Illustration] + + Our Virgin Queen, peerless Elizabeth, + With grace and dignity rode through the host: + And proudly paced that gallant steed, as though + He knew his saddle was a royal throne. + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Riding on Horseback is, confessedly, one of the most graceful, +agreeable, and salutary of feminine recreations. No attitude, perhaps, +can be regarded as more elegant than that of a lady in the modern +side-saddle; nor can any exercise be deemed capable of affording more +rational and innocent delight, than that of the female equestrian. +Pursued in the open air, it affords a most rapid, and, at the same +time, exhilarating succession of scenic changes, at a degree of personal +exertion, sufficient to produce immediate pleasure, without inducing the +subsequent languor of fatigue. + +Nor is riding on horseback attended with that danger to ladies, +attributed to it by the indolent, the melancholy, and the timid. +Accidents, indeed, in the side-saddle, are of extremely rare occurrence. +Strange as it may seem, it is, however, an incontrovertible fact, that +horses, in general, are much more docile and temperate, with riders of +the fair sex, than when mounted by men. This may be attributed, +partially, to the more backward position, in the saddle, of the former +than the latter; but, principally, perhaps, to their superior delicacy +of hand in managing the reins. + +As an active recreation, and a mode of conveyance, riding on horseback +appears to have been of very remote usage among our fair countrywomen. +During a long period, indeed, it was the only one known to, or, adopted +by them, for the performance of journies. Such, too, appears to have +been the case (with some modifications) in other European countries. The +only _voiture_ of the French, says Garsault, until the reign of Charles +the Sixth, was the back of the horse or mule: neither Kings, Queens, +Princes, nor subjects were acquainted with any other. In the time of +that monarch, litters, borne by two horses, first appeared; but these +were uncovered, and used, only, by ladies of the court. Froissart +describes Isabel, the second wife of Richard the Second of England, as +having been borne "en une litiere moult riche, qui etoit ordonnee pour +elle;" and this kind of vehicle, during the reigns of several succeeding +Monarchs, appears to have been used by women of distinction in this +country, but, only, it is to be observed, in cases of illness, or on +occasions of ceremony. For example,--when Margaret, daughter of Henry +the Seventh, went into Scotland, she generally rode "a faire palfrey;" +while, after her, was conveyed "one vary riche litere, borne by two +faire coursers, vary nobly drest; in the which litere the sayd Queene +was borne in the intrying of the good townes, or otherwise, to her good +playsher." + +Towards the end of the thirteenth century, vehicles with wheels, for the +use of ladies, were first introduced. They appear to have been of +Italian origin, as the first notice of them is found in an account of +the entry of Charles of Anjou into Naples; on which occasion, we are +told, his queen rode in a _careta_, the outside and inside of which were +covered with sky-blue velvet, interspersed with golden lilies. Under the +Gallicised denomination of _char_, the Italian _careta_, shortly +afterwards became known in France; where, so early as the year 1294, an +ordinance was issued by Philip the Fair, forbidding its use to citizens' +wives. Nor was England far behind in the adoption of the vehicle; for, +in "The Squyr of Low Degree," a poem supposed to have been written +anterior to the time of Chaucer, we find the father of a royal lady +promising that she shall hunt with him, on the morrow, in "_a chare_," +drawn by + + "Jennettes of Spain that ben so white, + Trapped to the ground with velvet bright." + + "It shall be covered with velvet red, + And clothes of fine gold all about your head; + With damask white and azure blue, + Well diapered with lilies blue." + +However richly ornamented, the _careta_, _char_, or _chare_--and there +is little, if any, doubt, to be entertained as to their identity--may +have been, it was, probably, a clumsy, inelegant, and inconvenient +structure; for its employment appears to have been far from general +among high-born ladies, even on occasions of ceremony and pomp. During +the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, the French +Princesses usually rode on donkies; and so late as the year 1534, a +sacred festival was attended by Queen Eleonora, and the females of the +blood royal of France, on horseback. Nor did the superior and more +recent invention of coaches, for a long period, tend materially to +supersede, among ladies, the use of the saddle. These vehicles, +according to Stow, became known, in England, in 1580; but, many years +after, Queen Elizabeth herself is described as having appeared, almost +daily, on her palfrey. In the time of Charles the Second, the fashion, +among ladies, of riding on horseback, declined; during subsequent +reigns, it gradually revived; and the exercise may now be regarded as +firmly established, among our fair countrywomen, by the august example +of their illustrious Queen. + +[Illustration] + +The present graceful, secure, and appropriate style of female +equestrianism is, however, materially different from that of the olden +time. In by-gone days, the dame or damosel rode precisely as the knight +or page. Of this, several illustrations occur in an illuminated +manuscript of the fourteenth century, preserved in the Royal Library. In +one of these, a lady of that period is depicted on horseback, enjoying +the pastime of the chase. In another, are represented two gentlewomen +of the same period, on horseback, with an individual of the other sex, +engaged (as is shewn by some parts of the design, which it would be +needless, for our present purpose, to copy) in the once much-favoured +diversion of Hawking. + +[Illustration] + +Queen Elizabeth, says a writer in the Encyclopaedia Londinensis, "seems +to have been the first who set the ladies the more modest fashion of +riding sideways. Considerable opposition was, at first, made to it, as +inconvenient and dangerous: but, practice, in time, brought it into +general use; particularly when ladies found they could ride a-hunting, +take flying leaps, and gallop over cross roads and ploughed fields, +without meeting with more accidents than the men: besides, it was not +only allowed to be more decorous, but, in many respects, more congenial +to the ease and comfort of a female rider." + +Our author is, however, wrong in ascribing the fashion of riding +sideways, by women in this country, to Elizabeth; by whom it could only +have been confirmed, or, at the most, revived;--the honour of its +introduction being clearly attributable to another Queen of England, who +lived at a much more early period of our history. + +Ann of Bohemia, consort of Richard the Second, is the illustrious +personage to whom we allude. She, it was, according to Stow (whom +Beckman follows on this point), that originally shewed the women of this +country how gracefully and conveniently they might ride on horseback +sideways. Another old historian, enumerating the new fashions of Richard +the Second's reign, observes, "Likewise, noble ladies then used high +heads and cornets, and robes with long trains, and seats, or +_side-saddles_, on their horses, by the example of the respectable +Queen, Ann, daughter of the King of Bohemia; who first introduced the +custom into this kingdom: for, before, women of every rank rode as men +do" (T. ROSSII, _Hist. Re. Ang._ p. 205). In his beautiful illustrative +picture of Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrims, Stothard appears to have +committed an anachronism, in placing the most conspicuous female +character of his fine composition sideways on her steed. That the lady +should have been depicted riding in the male fashion, might, it strikes +us, have been inferred, without any historical research on the subject, +from the poet's describing her as having, on her feet, + + "_a paire_ of spurres sharpe." + +Neither the original example of Ann of Bohemia, nor that, in later days, +of Elizabeth, as female equestrians, however extensively followed, had +sufficient force, entirely to abolish, among our countrywomen, the mode +of riding like the other sex. In the time of Charles the Second, it +appears, from a passage in the Duke of Newcastle's great work on +Horsemanship, to have still, at least partially, subsisted. Another +writer of the seventeenth century, whose manuscripts are preserved in +the Harleian collection, speaks of it, as having been practised, in his +time, by the ladies of Bury, in Suffolk, when hunting or hawking; and +our venerable contemporary, Lawrence (a voluminous writer on the horse), +it is worthy of remark, states, that at an early period of his own life, +two young ladies of good family, then residing near Ipswich, _in the +same county_, "were in the constant habit of riding about the country, +in their smart doe-skins, great coats, and flapped beaver hats." + +[Illustration] + +Although entirely relinquished, at present, perhaps in this country, the +mode of female equestrianism under notice continues to prevail in +various other localities. In the following sketch, taken from Charles +Audry's magnificent "Ecole d' Equitation," a Persian lady is delineated +as just about to start on a journey, in the saddle; and, in the next, +which is engraved from an original drawing, "done from the life," a lady +and gentleman of Lima are represented on horseback. "I have +endeavoured," the artist says, in manuscript, on the reverse of his +sketch, "to depict the horses '_pacing_;' as they are almost universally +taught to do, in Peru: that is, to move both the legs, of one side, +forward together. It resembles an English butcher's trot in appearance; +but, it is so easy, that one might go to sleep on the horse: and, after +riding '_a pacer_,' it is difficult to sit a trotter at first. It is, +also, excessively rapid;--good _pacers_ beating other horses at a +gallop. The ladies of Lima do not always ride with the face covered: +but, only, when the sun is powerful. They, sometimes, ride in _ponchos_, +like the men: in fact, it is excessively difficult, at first sight, to +determine whether a person on horseback be male or female." + +[Illustration] + +The side-saddle introduced to this country by Ann of Bohemia, differed, +materially, from that now used by British ladies; having, no doubt, +been a mere pillion, on which the rider sate, as in a chair. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +At what period our fair countrywomen first began to ride with the knee +over the pommel, we are not enabled to state: it is, however, clear, +according to the original of the above sketch, which occurs in one of +the historical illustrations of equestrianism, given by Audry, that the +courtly dames of England did so, about the middle of the seventeenth +century. Our author describes the figure, as being that of the Countess +of Newcastle. + +[Illustration] + +It may be conjectured, that a single crutch, only, for the advanced leg, +was at first used; and this, it is not improbable, was fixed on the +centre of the pommel, as in the lady's saddle, now, or at least very +lately, common in some parts of Mexico; where the women, it would seem, +ride with the left hand towards the animal's head. This, also, appears +to have been, sometimes, the case, down to a recent period, in our own +country; for, in rather a modern description of the side-saddle, the +crutches are spoken of as being moveable, in order to afford a lady, by +merely changing their relative positions, the means of riding, as she +might please, on either side of her horse.[18-*] That a second crutch +was used about the middle of the last century (we are unable to state +how much earlier), in France, at least, is evident from a plate of the +lady's hunting saddle, at that period, given by Garsault; in which, it +is curious, a sort of hold-fast is provided for the fair equestrian's +right hand. But, even so recently as Garsault's time, the saddle in +ordinary use, by French women, was, we learn from his work on +equitation, still, a kind of pillion, on which the rider sate, +diagonally, with both feet resting on a broad suspended ledge or +stirrup. The pillion in this country has not yet become obsolete; being +still, frequently, to be seen, on the backs of donkies and hack ponies, +at watering places. During the early part of the present century, its +employment continued to be general. It was fixed behind a man's saddle, +on the croup of a steady horse, trained to go at an easy though +shuffling pace between a walk and a trot. The groom, or gentleman, +equipped with a broad leathern belt buckled about his waist--by which +the lady secured her position, in case of need--first mounted; and his +fair companion was then lifted, backwards, and behind him, into her +seat. In an old work on horsemanship, written by one William Stokes, +and published at Oxford, it is not, perhaps, unworthy of notice, +directions are given for vaulting into the saddle, _after_ the lady has +been placed on the croup; together with a plate illustrative of so +exquisitely nice and marvellously absurd an operation. In Mexico "they +manage these things," if not "better," at all events, with more +gallantry, than our forefathers did, for with them, "the _pisana_, or +country lady," we are told, "is often seen mounted _before_ her +_cavaliero_; who, seated behind his fair one, supports her with his arm +thrown around her waist." Our illustrative sketch of this custom (in the +preceding page) is taken from a beautiful model,--the work of a native +Mexican artist. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +Having, now, offered our fair readers a slight and unpretending +historical sketch of female equestrianism, we shall proceed, after a few +preliminary remarks, to the practical details of the art. + +Its various advantages, inducements, and attractions, as an exercise, +have, already, been noticed. Much, however, as we wish to interest our +fair countrywomen, in its favour, it is proper, on our part, to tell +them, frankly, that equestrianism is far from being an intuitive +art:--there is no "royal road" to it. To be enjoyed and appreciated, it +must be learnt. That ease and elegance,--that comparative safety in the +side-saddle, of which we have spoken,--it is impossible to achieve, +without considerable practice, based upon proper principles. Many young +ladies, however, feel a delicate repugnance to passing through the +ordeal of a riding-school; some, again, do not reside in situations, +where the benefit of a teacher's directions can be procured; while +others, erroneously flatter themselves, that they are in possession of +every needful acquirement, as regards equestrianism, when they have +discovered how to retain a seat on the saddle, and guide a horse by +means of the bridle. To such of our readers as happen to be comprised +within either of these classes,--and to those, also, who, after having +received a professor's initiative instructions, are desirous of further +improvement, the following pages, if carefully perused, will, the writer +most zealously hopes, prove beneficial. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18-*] Since writing the above, we have been assured by a +friend, that, within a few weeks past, he has seen several ladies, at +Brighton, seated on the wrong side of the horse. Side-saddles, with +moveable crutches, indeed, are now far from uncommon (to our own +knowledge), in saddlers' shops. + + + + +EQUESTRIAN TECHNICALITIES. + + +A few, among the most generally adopted, of these, it will be expedient, +in the first place, to notice and explain. + +Most parts in the external structure of the horse are known by names of +obvious signification: but such is not, exactly, the case with all. + +[Illustration] + +To commence with the anterior limb:--_a_ is the fore pastern; _b_, the +fetlock; _c_, the leg; and _d_, the arm. + +In the hind limb, _e_ is the hind pastern; _f_, the hock; _g_, the +stifle; and _h_, the haunch. + +The upper surface of the neck, _i_, is denominated the crest; _k_, the +withers, and _l_, the croup. + +[Illustration] + +In the bridle, supposing it to be double-reined, _a_ is the double +head-stall; _b_, the front; _c_, the nose-band; _d_, the throat-lash; +_e_, _e_, the snaffle rein; and _f_, _f_, the curb rein. At _g_, _g_, is +the martingale. + +[Illustration] + +In the saddle, _a_, is the near crutch; _b_, the off crutch; _c_, the +cantle; _d_, the crupper; _e_, the safe; _f_, the skirt; _g_, the +stirrup; _h_, the near side half of the surcingle; and _i_, _i_, the +girths. + +A lady's right hand is termed the _whip_-hand, and her left, the +_bridle_-hand. + +The _near_ side of a horse is that which is on the _left_ of the rider; +and the _off_ side that which is on her _right_. + +The height of a horse is always estimated in _hands_, of four inches +each: it is always measured at the tip of the shoulder. A horse is never +spoken of as being so many hands _tall_, but so many hands _high_. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE LADY'S HORSE. + + +Although the lady usually has a horse selected for her, by some +gentleman, either of her own family or her acquaintance, it may not be +inexpedient to inform the fair reader of those qualities which, combined +in the same animal, may be said to constitute a complete lady's horse. +Such a creature, however, we must observe, is exceedingly difficult to +be procured, even by those possessed of the nicest judgment on the +subject; and, to whom, the usually important question of price is not an +object of consideration. + +The beau ideal of this kind of horse is superlatively elegant in form, +exquisitely fine in coat, and unexceptionably beautiful in colour; of a +height, in the nicest degree appropriate to the figure of the rider; +graceful, accurate, well-united, and thoroughly safe in every pace; +"light as a feather" in the hand, though not at all painfully sensitive +to a proper action of the bit; bold in the extreme, yet superlatively +docile; free, in every respect, from what is technically denominated +"vice;" excellent in temper, but still "though gentle, yet not dull;" +rarely, if ever, requiring the stimulus of the whip, yet submitting +temperately to its occasional suggestions. + +[Illustration] + +In some, though not in all respects, the form should approach closely to +that of a thorough-bred animal. The head should be small, neat, +"well-set" on the neck, and gracefully "carried." The nostrils should be +wide; the eyes large, rather protruding, dark, yet brilliant; the ears +erect, and delicately tapering towards their tips. The expression of the +countenance should be lively, animated, noble, and most highly +intelligent; the neck rather arched and muscular; the ridge of the +shoulders narrow and elevated; the chest full and fleshy; the back +broad; the body, round or barrel-like; the space between the hips and +tail, long, and very gradually depressed towards the latter organ, +which, it is essential, should be based high on the croup. The fore and +hind limbs should be distant, the one pair from the other; the "arms" +muscular; the knees broad, the hocks (laterally) wide; the legs flat +and sinewy; the pasterns rather long; and the hoofs large, and nearly +round. + +A rough, or, what is technically termed, a "staring" coat, considerably +deteriorates the appearance of a horse, however perfect in other +conditions. Its surface, on a well-bred, healthy, and properly groomed +animal, is not only smooth, but brilliantly polished. The mane, if too +long and thick, will interfere with that delicate management of the +reins so desirable to a lady on horseback; and the tail, if of +immoderate length, will, by the animal's whisking it towards his sides, +prove inconvenient, to the fair rider, at all times; but, especially so, +in dirty weather. Neither of these appendages, however, on the other +hand, should be ungracefully brief or scanty. + +Of all colours presented by the horse, none is so rich, and, at the same +time, so elegant and chaste, as a bright bay; provided the mane, tail, +and lower parts of the legs, be black. A small white star on the +forehead, and a white speck on one of the heels, are to be considered, +rather, as beauties, than defects: but much white, either on the face or +legs, whatever be the general hue, is quite the reverse of desirable. +After bright bay, chestnut, perhaps, deserves to rank next in the scale +of taste; provided it be not, as is very frequently the case, +accompanied with white legs. Some of the various shades of grey, +however, are, in the opinion of many, entitled to be placed above it: +of these, the silver grey, with black mane and tail, claims the highest +place. Brown is rather exceptionable, on account of its dulness. Black +is not much admired; though, as we think, when of a deep jet, remarkably +elegant. Roan, sorrel, dun, piebald, mouse, and even cream colour +(however appropriate the latter may be for a state-carriage-horse) are +all to be eschewed. + +The height of her horse should be in harmonious proportion with that of +the rider. A very young or short lady is in no less false a position, as +regards grace, on a lofty steed, than a tall, full-grown woman, on a +diminutive pony. For ladies of the general stature, a horse measuring +from fifteen to fifteen and a half hands, at the point of the shoulder, +is usually considered, as regards height, more desirable than any other. + +In paces, the lady's horse should be perfect; or, at all events, so far +as regards the walk and canter. The former should be fast, bold, firm, +and lively, without being unsteady; and, the latter, light, easy, +well-combined, and graceful: so, too, should the hand-gallop; although, +it is true, a lady's horse is rarely put to this pace, unless used for +the field. The trot, again, is but little practised: still the complete +lady's horse is expected to be capable of performing it with great +precision of step, and but little concussion to the rider:--many ladies +regarding it,--however discountenanced by the majority, perhaps,--as +preferable, from its vigour, liveliness, and dash, to any other pace. + +To expatiate on the absolute necessity of the lady's horse being safe on +his limbs, would be needless. + +The mouth should be sensible of the most delicate hint of the rider's +will, communicated to it by means of the bit. A horse that pulls hard, +or hangs heavily upon the reins, is very unsuitable for a lady's use: +so, again, is one having the mouth so tender as to suffer from moderate +pressure, either by the snaffle or the curb. The former is no less +fatiguing to, than the latter is distressed by, the bridle hand. + +[Illustration] + + + + +PERSONAL EQUIPMENTS. + + +In the selection of these, a lady has a fair opportunity for the proper +display of a refined and judicious taste. All that is gaudy, needless, +or even elaborate, is vulgar. Perfect simplicity, indeed, as regards, +not only her own costume, but "the trappings of her palfrey," is +expected, at the present day, on the part of every well-bred female +equestrian. + +The habit should fit the bust, without a crease: but, beneath the waist, +it ought to be, not only long, but, somewhat full and flowing. Its +colour should be dark as possible, without being positively black. + +The hair should be plaited; or, if otherwise dressed, so arranged and +secured, that it may not be blown into the rider's eyes; nor, from +exercise, or the effect of humid weather, be liable to be so +discomposed, as to become embarrassing. + +To ride in a bonnet is far from judicious. A hat, or neat undress +military cap, is indispensable to the female equestrian. It should be +secured most carefully to the head: for, the loss of it would not merely +be inconvenient, but, perhaps, dangerous, from the startling effect +which its fall might produce on the sensitive temperament of the horse. + +A veil is the reverse of objectionable, provided it be of moderate +length, and safely tied to the hat or cap; which, it is proper to state, +should have no other ornament or appendage. + +The whip should be exquisitely neat and highly finished; but with +little, if any, decoration. + +[Illustration] + + + + +ACCOUTREMENTS FOR THE HORSE. + + +Every accoutrement for the horse, however ornamental and pictorial, +beyond the mere saddle and bridle, is to be rejected, as being in bad +taste. The crupper and breast-band are now almost obsolete; the +saddle-cloth has nearly disappeared; nettings are, generally speaking, +abandoned; and the martingale itself, valuable as it may be for horses +of a certain character, is rarely to be seen. Simplicity, indeed, as +regards female equestrianism, is now imperatively (and, strange to say, +most judiciously) enjoined, by "that same fickle goddess, Fashion," in +obedience to whose sovereign behest, a lady's horse, in the olden time, +was disguised, as it were, "in cloth of gold most curiously wrought." + +[Illustration] + + + + +RULES OF THE ROAD. + + +Without a knowledge of these, the fair equestrian, when riding in +public, would be exposed to considerable inconvenience, and, often, to +no slight degree of danger. + +By a generally understood compact, persons, whether riding or driving, +when proceeding in opposite directions, pass, each on his or her own +_near_, or left-hand, side, of the road; and when on a parallel course, +the faster party goes by the other, on the _off_, or right. In other +words, when the former is the case, the right hands of the parties +meeting, are towards each other; and, in the latter, the left hand of +the faster, is towards the right hand of the slower. It follows, +therefore, that when the rider is about to meet horses or carriages, she +should take her ground on her _near_, or left, side of the road; and, +when about to pass those travelling in the same direction with, though +at a less speedy pace than, herself, on her right, or _off_. In meeting +one rider, or vehicle, and, at the same time, passing, by superior +speed, another, she must leave the first, on her right, and the second, +on her left. + +It will not be inexpedient, under the present head, to make some +observations as to which side the lady should take, when riding in +company with a gentleman. Adams, a teacher of equitation, and the +author of a work on the subject, remarks, that the only inducements for +a gentleman to ride on the left of a lady, would be, that, by having his +right hand towards her, in case of her needing assistance, he might, the +more readily and efficiently, be enabled to afford it, than if he were +on the opposite side; and, should any disarrangement occur in the skirt +of her habit, he might screen it until remedied. On the other hand, our +author observes, with great good sense, though in terms somewhat +homely,--addressing, it is to be noticed, his remarks to +gentlemen,--"the inconvenience of riding on the left of the lady, is, +that if you ride near, to give her any assistance, you are liable to +rub, or incommode, the lady's legs, and alarm her; and the spur is +liable to catch, or tear, the lady's habit: if the roads are dirty, your +horse, likewise, bespatters the lady's habit. On the right hand of the +lady, these inconveniences do not occur, if you ride ever so close; and +you are situated next the carriages, and the various objects you meet, +which, in narrow roads, or, passing near, might intimidate a lady. For +these reasons, I think it most proper to take the right hand of a lady." + +[Illustration] + + + + +MOUNTING. + + +On approaching a horse, the skirt of the habit should be gracefully +gathered up, and the whip be carried in the right hand. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +It is the groom's duty, when the rider approaches, to gather up the +reins with his left hand, smoothly and evenly, the curb rein between, +and somewhat tighter than the bridoon, properly dividing them with his +fore-finger. The lady advancing, on the near side of the horse, to the +saddle, receives them a little more forward than the point of the +horse's shoulder, with her right hand, which still retains and passes +the whip over the saddle to the _off_ or right side. On taking the +bridle in this manner, her fore-finger is placed between the reins: the +groom then removes his hand, and the lady draws her own back, suffering +the reins to glide gently and evenly through her fingers, until she +reaches the near crutch of the saddle, which she takes with her right +hand, still holding the whip and reins, and places herself close to the +near side of the horse, with her back almost turned towards him. The +groom now quits his former post, and prepares to assist her to mount. +The horse being thus left to the lady's government, it is proper, that, +in passing her hand through the reins she should not have suffered them +to become so loose as to prevent her, when her hand is on the crutch, +from having a light, but steady bearing on the bit, and thus keeping the +horse to his position during the process of mounting. She next places +her left foot firmly in the right hand of the groom, or gentleman, in +attendance, who stoops to receive it. The lady then puts her left hand +on his right shoulder; and, straightening her left knee, bears her +weight on the assistant's hand; which he gradually raises (rising, +himself, at the same time) until she is seated on the saddle. During her +elevation, she steadies, and even, if necessary, partly assists herself +towards the saddle by her hands; one of which, it will be recollected, +is placed on the crutch, and the other on her assistant's shoulder. It +is important that she should keep her foot firm and her knee straight. + +[Illustration] + +If these directions be well attended to, she will find herself raised to +her saddle with but a trifling exertion, either, on her own part, or +that of the assistant. Should the latter be a lad only, or a groom not +much accustomed to this part of his business, he should use both hands +instead of one;--joining them by the fingers: indeed, this, generally +speaking, is the safer mode. The lady, in all cases, should take care +that her weight be well balanced on her left foot, from which she should +rise as perpendicularly as possible; above all things taking care not to +put her foot forward, but keeping it directly under her. The assistant +should not begin to raise her until she has removed her right foot from +the ground, and, by strengthening her knee, thrown her weight completely +into his hand. + +[Illustration] + +Having reached the saddle, while her face is still turned to the near +side of the horse, and before she places her knee on the pommel, the +assistant puts the lady's left foot in the stirrup, while she removes +her hand from the near to the off crutch of the saddle, holding the whip +and reins as before directed. She now raises herself on the stirrup by +the aid of her right hand, while the assistant, or the lady herself, +with her left hand, draws the habit forward in its place. She then +places her right knee between the crutches, and her seat is taken. + +Should the back part of the habit at this time, or afterwards, in the +course of the ride, require any arrangement, the lady raises herself in +the stirrup, by strengthening her knee, and, with her left hand, +disposes her habit to her satisfaction. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE REINS. + + +Pupils, during their first lessons, may arrange the reins in the +following manner:--The right hand is removed from the crutch of the +saddle; the reins are separated, and one is held in each hand, passing +up between the third and fourth fingers, the ends being brought over the +fore-fingers, and held in their places by closing the thumbs upon them, +and shutting the hands: these should be on a level with each other, at a +little distance apart, three inches from the body, or thereabouts, with +the knuckles of the little fingers in a line with the elbow. By slightly +advancing the hands, or even relaxing the hold of the reins, the horse, +if well trained, will go forward. The left hand is raised to turn to the +near or left side, and the right hand to turn in an opposite direction. +By slightly raising and approaching both hands toward the body, the +horse may be made to stop. When either rein is acted on, to turn the +horse, the other should be a little slackened, or the hand which holds +it relaxed. + +As soon as the pupil has passed her noviciate in the art, she holds both +reins in the left hand. Some ladies separate them by the third and +fourth fingers; others, by one of these fingers only; and many, by the +fourth and little finger: but the greater number use the latter alone +for this purpose, passing the off or right rein over it, and bringing +the near or left rein up beneath it. The reins are carried flat upon +each other up through the hand, near the middle joint of the +fore-finger, and the thumb is placed upon them so that their ends fall +down in front of the knuckles. The elbow should neither be squeezed +close to the side, nor thrust out into an awkward and unnatural +position; but be carried easily and gracefully, at a moderate distance +from the body. The thumb should be uppermost, and the hand so placed +that the lower part of it be nearer the waist than the upper; the wrist +should be slightly rounded, the little finger in a line with the elbow, +and the nails turned towards the rider. + +With the reins in this position, the lady, if she wish her horse to +advance, brings her thumb towards her, until the knuckles are uppermost, +and the nails over the horse's shoulder: the reins, by this simple +motion, are slackened sufficiently to permit him to move forward. After +he is put in motion, the rider's hand should return to the first +position, gradually; or it may be slightly advanced, and the thumb +turned upwards immediately. + +To direct a horse to the left, let the thumb, which in the first +position is uppermost, be turned to the right, the little finger to the +left, and the back of the hand brought upwards. This movement is +performed in a moment, and it will cause the left rein to hang slack, +while the right is tightened so as to press against the horse's neck. + +To direct the horse to the right, the hand should quit the first +position, the nails be turned upwards, the little finger brought in +towards the right, and the thumb moved to the left: the left rein will +thus press the neck, while the right one is slackened. + +To stop the horse, or make him back, the nails should be turned, from +the first position, upwards, the knuckles be reversed, and the wrist be +rounded as much as possible. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE SEAT AND BALANCE. + + +The body should always be in a situation, as well to preserve the +balance, as to maintain the seat. + +[Illustration] + +One of the most common errors committed by ladies on horseback, who have +not been properly taught to ride is hanging by the near crutch, so that, +instead of being gracefully seated in the centre of the saddle, with the +head in its proper situation, and the shoulders even, the body is +inclined to the left, the head is brought to the right by an inelegant +bend of the neck, the right shoulder is elevated, and the left +depressed. + +To correct or avoid these and similar faults, is important. All the +rider's movements should harmonize with the paces of the animal: her +position should be at once easy to herself and to her horse; and alike +calculated to ensure her own safety and give her a perfect command over +the animal. If she sit in a careless, ungraceful manner, the action of +her horse will be the reverse of elegant. A lady seldom appears to +greater advantage than when mounted on a fine horse, if her deportment +be graceful, and her positions correspond with his paces and attitudes; +but the reverse is the case, if, instead of acting with, and influencing +the movements of the horse, she appear to be tossed to and fro, and +overcome by them. She should rise, descend, advance, and stop _with_, +and not _after_ the animal. From this harmony of motion result ease, +elegance, and the most brilliant effect. The lady should sit in such a +position, that the weight of the body may rest on the centre of the +saddle. One shoulder should not be advanced more than the other. Neither +must she bear any weight on the stirrup, nor hang by the crutch towards +the near side. She ought not to suffer herself to incline forward, but +partially backward. If she bend forward, her shoulders will, most +probably, be rounded, and her weight thrown too much upon the horse's +withers: in addition to these disadvantages, the position will give her +an air of timid _gaucherie_. Leaning a little backward, on the contrary, +tends to bring the shoulders in, keeps the weight in its proper +bearing, and produces an appearance of graceful confidence. + +The head should be in an easy, natural position: that is, neither +drooping forward nor thrown back; neither leaning to the right nor to +the left. The bust should be elegantly developed, by throwing back the +shoulders, advancing the chest, and bending the back part of the waist +inward. The elbows should be steady, and kept in an easy, and apparently +unconstrained position, near the sides. The lower part of the arm should +form a right angle with the upper part, which ought to descend almost +perpendicularly from the shoulder. The position of the hands, when both +are occupied with the reins, or when the reins are held in one only, we +have already noticed: the right arm and hand, in the latter case, may +depend, easily, from the shoulder, and the whip be held in the fingers, +with the lash downward, between two fingers and the thumb. The whip may +also be carried in the right hand, in the manner adopted by gentlemen: +the lady is not restricted to any precise rules in this respect, but may +vary the position of her whip arm as she may think fit, so that she do +not permit it to appear ungraceful. She must, however, take care that +the whip be so carried, that its point do not tickle or irritate the +flank of the horse. + +The stirrup is of very little use except to support the left foot and +leg, and to assist the rider to rise in the trot: generally speaking, +therefore, as we have already remarked, none of the weight of the body +should be thrown upon the stirrup. The left leg must not be cramped up, +but assume an easy and comfortable position: it should neither be forced +out, so as to render the general appearance ungraceful, and the leg +itself fatigued; nor, should it be pressed close to the horse, except +when used as an aid; but descend gracefully by his side, without bearing +against it. + +Although hanging by the left crutch of the saddle, over the near side, +is not only inelegant, but objectionable in many important respects, the +near crutch, properly used, is a lady's principal dependence on +horseback. The right knee being passed over the near crutch, the toes +being slightly depressed, and the leg pressed against the fore part of +the saddle, the pommel is grasped, and the rider well secured in the +possession of her seat. It is said, that when a lady, while her horse is +going at a smart trot, can lean over, on the right side, far enough to +see the horse's shoe, she may be supposed to have established a correct +seat; which, we repeat, she should spare no pains to acquire. In some of +the schools, a pupil is often directed to ride without the stirrup, and, +with her arms placed behind her, while the master holds the long rein, +and urges the horse to various degrees of speed, and in different +directions, in order to settle her firmly and gracefully on the +saddle,--to convince her that there is security without the +stirrup,--and to teach her to accompany, with precision and ease, the +various movements of the horse. + +Nothing can be more detrimental to the grace of a lady's appearance on +horseback, than a bad position: a recent author says, it is a sight that +would spoil the finest landscape in the world. What can be much more +ridiculous, than the appearance of a female, whose whole frame, through +mal-position, seems to be the sport of every movement of the horse? If +the lady be not mistress of her seat, and be unable to maintain a proper +position of her limbs and body, so soon as her horse starts into a trot, +she runs the risk of being tossed about on the saddle, like the Halcyon +of the poets in her frail nest,-- + + "Floating upon the boisterous rude sea." + +If the animal should canter, his fair rider's head will be jerked to and +fro as "a vexed weathercock;" her drapery will be blown about, instead +of falling gracefully around her; and her elbows rise and fall, or, as +it were, flap up and down like the pinions of an awkward nestling +endeavouring to fly. To avoid such disagreeable similes being applied to +her, the young lady, who aspires to be a good rider, should, even from +her first lesson in the art, strive to obtain a proper deportment on the +saddle. She ought to be correct, without seeming stiff or formal: and +easy, without appearing slovenly. The position we have described, +subject to occasional variations, will be found, by experience, to be +the most natural and graceful mode of sitting a horse:--it is easy to +the rider and her steed; and enables the former to govern the actions of +the latter so effectually, in all ordinary cases, as to produce that +harmony of motion, which is so much and so deservedly admired. + +The balance is conducive to the ease, elegance, and security of the +rider:--it consists in a foreknowledge of the direction which any given +motion of the horse will impart to the body, and a ready adaptation of +the whole frame to the proper position, before the animal has completed +his change of attitude or action;--it is that disposition of the person, +in accordance with the movements of the horse, which prevents it from an +undue inclination, forward or backward, to the right or to the left. + +By the direction and motion of the horse's legs the balance is governed. +If the animal be either standing still, or merely walking +straight-forward, the body should be preserved in the simple position +which we have directed the lady to assume on taking her seat. Should it +be necessary to apply the whip, so as to make the animal quicken his +pace, or to pull him in suddenly, the body must be prepared to +accommodate itself to the animal's change of action. When going round a +corner at a brisk pace, or riding in a circle, the body should lean back +rather more than in the walking position: to the same extent that the +horse bends inward, must the body lean in that direction. If a horse shy +at any object, and either turn completely and suddenly round, or run on +one side only, the body should, if possible, keep time with his +movements, and adapt itself so as to turn or swerve with him; otherwise, +the balance will be lost, and the rider be in danger of falling, on the +side from which the animal starts. In no case, let it be remembered, +should the rider endeavour to assist herself in preserving her balance, +by pulling at the reins. + +[Illustration] + + + + +AIDS AND DEFENCES. + + +All such motions of the body, the hands, the legs, and the whip, as +either indicate the rider's wishes, or, in some degree, assist the horse +to fulfil them, are, in the art of riding, denominated _aids_; and those +movements of the rider which tend to save the animal from disuniting +himself, or running into danger, may, properly enough, be classed under +the same title: while such as act for the preservation of the rider, +against the attempts of the horse, when headstrong or vicious, are +termed _defences_. + +The aids of the hand are considered the most important: all the other +actions of the rider tending, principally, to assist the bridle-hand and +carry its operations into complete effect. There should be a perfect +harmony in the aids; and all of them ought to be governed by those of +the rein. In many instances, the power of a movement performed by the +hand may be destroyed by the omission of a correct accompanying aid or +defence, with the body, or the leg. Thus:--if a horse rear, it is +useless for the rider to afford him a slack rein, if she do not also +lean forward, in order, by throwing her weight on his fore-parts, to +bring him down, and also to save herself from falling backward over his +haunches. Should the rider, when her horse rises, slacken the reins, +but retain her usual position on the saddle, if he rear high, she must +necessarily be thrown off her balance; and then, if she hang on the bit, +in order to save herself from falling, there is great danger of her +pulling the horse backward. + +The aids and defences of the body are numerous: we shall attempt to +describe a few of them; the residue must be acquired by practice, and +the lady's own observation. When the rider indicates by her hand that +she wishes the horse to advance, the body should be inclined forward in +a slight degree; and the left leg (with the whip, also, if the animal be +sluggish, or not well trained) pressed to his side. Should she, by +pulling the rein towards her, or turning the wrist in the manner we have +before directed, communicate her desire to stop, her body ought, at the +same time, to be thrown back, with gentleness, or otherwise, in +proportion to the severity of the action of the hand against the horse's +inclination to increase his speed contrary to the will of his rider, or +when he leaps, kicks, or plunges. If a horse rear, the rider should lean +forward more than in the aid for the advance: but care must be taken, in +this case, to perform the defence with discretion, especially with a +pony, or galloway; for, should the animal rise suddenly, and the rider +throw herself abruptly forward, it is not improbable that he might give +her a violent blow on the face with the top of his head. + +We have already mentioned, in a previous part of our treatise, the +direction which the body should take when riding in a circle, turning a +corner, or acting as a defence against the danger attendant upon a +horse's shying. In the first case, the aid of the body, if properly +performed, will carry with it the aid of the hand, the leg, and even the +whip, if it be held near the horse's side. We will explain this by an +example:--Suppose the rider wishes to turn a corner on her left; she +inclines a little towards it, drawing her left shoulder in, and +thrusting her right shoulder rather forward: the bridle-hand will thus +be drawn back on the near side, the off rein will consequently act on +the horse's neck, and the left leg be pressed close against the near +side; so that all the necessary aids for effecting her object, are +performed by one natural and easy movement. + +The aids of the whip, on one side, correspond with those of the leg, on +the other: they are not only used in the manner we have already +mentioned, when the rider wishes her horse to advance, or increase his +pace, but also in clearing a corner, &c. If the lady be desirous of +turning to the left, she may materially aid the operation of the hand, +which directs the fore-parts of the horse to the near side, by pressing +him with her stirrup leg, so as to throw his croup in some degree to the +right, and thereby place it in a more proper position to follow the +direction of his shoulders. In turning to the right, the whip may be +made equally useful by driving out his croup to the left. The power of +these aids, especially that of the whip, should be increased as +circumstances require. The aid which is sufficient for some horses, may +not be powerful enough by half for others: and even with, the same +animal, while the slightest pressure will produce the desired effect in +some cases, a moderate, or, even, a rather severe, lash with the whip is +necessary in others. + +[Illustration] + + + + +SOOTHINGS, ANIMATIONS, &c. + + +The voice and the hand, the leg, and the whole body, may be employed to +soothe and encourage. High-mettled or fretful horses, it is often +necessary to soothe, and timid ones to encourage. A spirited animal is +frequently impatient when first mounted, or, if a horse or a carriage +pass him at a quick rate; and some horses are even so ardent and +animated, as to be unpleasant to ride when with others. In either of +these cases, the rider should endeavour to soothe her horse, by speaking +to him in a calm, gentle tone. She should suffer the whip to be as +motionless as possible, and take even more than usual care that its lash +do not touch the flank. Her seat should be easy, her leg still, and her +bridle-hand steady. The bit should not be made to press on the horse's +mouth with greater severity than is necessary to maintain the rider's +command; and, as the horse gradually subsides from his animation, its +bearing should be proportionately relaxed. The perfection of soothing +consists in the rider's sitting so entirely still and easy, as not to +add in the least to the horse's animation;--at the same time being on +her guard, so as to be able to effect any of her defences in an instant, +should occasion render them needful. + +There is scarcely any difference between soothings and encouragements; +except that, in the latter, it is advisable to _pat_, and, as it were, +caress the horse with the right hand, holding the whip in the left. A +shy or timid horse may often be encouraged to pass an object that alarms +him, to cross a bridge, enter a gateway, or take a leap, when force and +correction would only add to his fear, and, perhaps, render him +incorrigibly obstinate. + +Animations are intended to produce greater speed, or, to render the +horse more lively and on the alert, without increasing his pace. Some +animals scarcely ever require animations; while others are so dull and +deficient in mettle as to call them frequently into use. The slightest +movement of the body, the hand, or the leg, is enough to rouse the +well-bred and thoroughly-trained animal; but it is necessary for the +animations to be so spirited and united, with sluggish horses, as almost +to become corrections: in fact, what is a mere animation to one horse, +would be a positive correction to another. + +The aids of the hand, the whip, the leg, and the body, which we have +before described, are animations; so, also, are _pattings_ with the +hand, the tones of the voice, &c. Animations should be used in all +cases, when the horse, contrary to the rider's inclination, either +decreases his speed, droops his head, bears heavily and languidly on the +bit, or, begins to be lazy or slovenly in the performance of his paces. +A good rider foresees the necessity of an animation before the horse +actually abates his speed, or loses the _ensemble_ of his action, and +the grace and spirit of his deportment. It is much easier to keep up, +than to restore, a horse's animation: therefore, the whip, the leg, the +hand, or the tongue, should do its office a few moments before, rather +than at, the moment when its movements are indispensable. + +A slight motion of the fingers of the bridle-hand serves as an excellent +animation: it reminds the horse of his duty, awakens the sensibility of +his mouth, and preserves a proper correspondence between that and the +hand. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CORRECTIONS. + + +Ladies certainly ought not to ride horses which require extraordinary +correction. For numerous reasons, which must occur to our readers, a +lady should never be seen in the act of positively flogging her steed: +such a sight would destroy every previous idea that had been formed of +her grace or gentleness. Moderate corrections are, however, sometimes +necessary; and the fair rider should make no scruple of having recourse +to them when absolutely needful, but not otherwise. Astley, in his work +on the management of the horse, after very properly recommending all +quarrels between the steed and his rider to be avoided, observes, that +too much indulgence may induce the horse to consider "that you are +afraid of him;" and, our author adds, "if he should once think you are +really so, you will find he will exercise every means to convince you +that he considers himself your master, instead of acknowledging, by +implicit obedience, that you are his." + +Those, who imagine that a horse is to be corrected only with the whip, +are very much mistaken. The aids and animations of the leg, the +bridle-hand, the body, and the voice, may be made sufficiently severe to +correct and render a horse obedient in all ordinary cases. Severe +flogging seldom produces any good effect; and, in most contests between +a horse and his rider, when both get out of temper, the former usually +gains some important advantage. The best way to correct a horse is to +dishearten, and make him do what he would fain avoid;--not so much by +force and obstinate resolution, in contesting openly and directly with +him, when he is perfectly prepared to resist, as, by a cool opposition +and indirect means. There are different methods of attaining the same +end; and those which are the least obvious to the animal should be +adopted: a lady cannot rival him in physical strength, but she may +conquer him by mere ingenuity, or subdue him by a calm, determined +assumption of superior power. + +[Illustration] + + + + +VICES. + + +Some horses are addicted to a very troublesome and vicious habit of +turning round suddenly,--we do not here allude to shyness, but +restiveness,--without exhibiting any previous symptom of their +intention. A horse soon ascertains that the left hand is weaker than the +right, and, consequently, less able to oppose him; he, therefore, turns +on the off side, and with such force and suddenness, that it is almost +impossible, even if the rider be prepared for the attack, to prevent +him. + +In this case, it would be unwise to make the attempt: the rider would be +foiled, and the horse become encouraged, by his success in the struggle, +to make similar endeavours to have his own way, or dismount his rider. +The better plan is, instead of endeavouring to prevent him from turning, +with the left hand, to pull him sharply with the right, until his head +has made a complete circle, and he finds, to his astonishment, that he +is precisely in the place from which he started. + +Should he repeat the turn, on the rider's attempting to urge him on, she +should pull him round, on the same side, three or four times, and assist +the power of the hand in so doing, by a smart aid of the whip, or the +leg. While this is doing, she must take care to preserve her balance, by +an inclination of her body to the centre of the circle described by the +horse's head. + +The same plan may be pursued when a horse endeavours to turn a corner, +contrary to the wish of his rider; and, if he be successfully baffled, +three or four times, it is most probable that he will not renew his +endeavours. + +On the same principle, when a horse refuses to advance, and whipping +would increase his obstinacy, or make him rear, or bolt away in a +different direction, it is advisable to make him walk backward, until he +evinces a willingness to advance. + +A runaway might, in many instances, be cured of his vice by being +suffered to gallop, unchecked, and being urged forward, when he shewed +an inclination to abate his speed, rather than by attempting to pull him +in: but this remedy is, in most situations, dangerous, even for men; and +all other means should be tried before it is resorted to by a lady. +Should our fair young reader have the misfortune to be mounted on a +runaway, she may avoid evil consequences, if she can contrive to retain +her self-possession, and act as we are about to direct. She must +endeavour to maintain her seat, at all hazards, and to preserve the best +balance, or position of body, to carry her defences into operation. The +least symptom of alarm, on her part, will increase the terror or +determination of the horse. A dead heavy pull at the bridle will rather +aid him, than otherwise, in his speed, and prevent her from having +sufficient mastery over his mouth and her own hands to guide him. She +must, therefore, hold the reins in such a manner as to keep the horse +_together_ when at the height of his pace, and to guide him from running +against anything in his course; and, it is most probable that he will +soon abate his speed, and gradually subside into a moderate pace. +_Sawing_ the mouth (that is, pulling each rein alternately) will +frequently bring a horse up, in a few minutes. Slackening the reins for +an instant, and then jerking them with force, may also produce a similar +effect: but, if the latter mode be adopted, the rider must take care +that the horse, by stopping suddenly, do not bring her on his neck, or +throw her over his head. + +In whatever manner the runaway be stopped, it is advisable for the lady +to be on the alert, lest he should become so disunited, by the +operation, as to fall. + +Our readers may think, perhaps, that this advice, however easy to give, +is difficult to follow: we beg leave, however, to tell them, that +although it is not so easy as drawing on a glove, or replacing a stray +curl, it is much more practicable than they may imagine; though, we +trust, they may never have occasion to put it to the proof. + +There is another situation, in which it is advisable to force the horse, +apparently, to have his own way, in order to baffle his attempts. +Restive horses, or even docile animals, when put out of temper, +sometimes endeavour to crush their riders' legs against walls, gates, +trees, posts, &c. An inexperienced lady, under such circumstances, would +strive to pull the horse away; but her exertions would be unavailing: +the animal would feel that he could master the opposition, and thus +discovering the rider's weakness, turn it to her disadvantage on future +occasions. We cannot too often repeat, that, although a rider should not +desist until she have subdued her horse, she must never enter into an +open, undisguised contest with him. It is useless to attack him on a +point which he is resolute in defending: the assault should rather be +directed to his weaker side. If he fortify himself in one place, he must +proportionately diminish his powers of defence in another. He +anticipates and prepares to resist any attempt to overcome him on his +strong side; and his astonishment at being attacked on the other, and +with success, on account of his weakness in that quarter, goes far to +dishearten and subdue him. If he plant himself in a position of +resistance against being forced to advance, it is a matter of very +little difficulty to make him go back. If he appear to be determined not +to go to the right, the rider may, on account of the mode in which he +disposes his body and limbs, turn him, with great facility, to the left. +If he stand _stock-still_, and will not move in any direction, his crime +may be made his punishment: the rider, in such case, should sit +patiently until he shew a disposition to advance, which he probably will +in a very short time, when he discovers that she is not annoyed by his +standing still. Nothing will subdue a horse so soon as this mode of +turning his attacks against himself, and making his defences appear acts +of obedience to the rider's inclination. When, therefore, a horse +viciously runs on one side towards a wall, pull his head forcibly in the +same direction and, if, by the aid of the leg or whip, you can drive his +croup out, you may succeed in backing him completely away from it. It is +by no means improbable, that when he finds that his rider is inclined to +go to the wall as well as himself, he will desist. Should he not, his +croup may be so turned, outward, that he cannot do his rider any +mischief. + +In shying, the same principle may be acted upon, more advantageously, +perhaps, than in any other case. Should the lady's horse be alarmed at +any object, and, instead of going up to, or passing it, turn round, the +rider should manage him as we have recommended in cases where the horse +turns, through restiveness. He should then be soothed and encouraged, +rather than urged by correction, to approach, or pass, the object that +alarms him: to attempt to force him up to it would be ridiculous and +dangerous. If the horse swerve from an object, and try to pass it at a +brisk rate, it is useless to pull him towards it; for, if you succeed in +bringing his head on one side, his croup will be turned outward, and +his legs work in an opposite direction. This resistance will increase +proportionately to the exertions made by the rider. A horse, in this +manner, may fly from imaginary, into real danger; for he cannot see +where he is going, nor what he may run against. Pulling in the rein, +therefore, on the side from which the horse shies, is improper; it +should rather be slackened, and the horse's head turned away from the +object which terrifies him. By this mode, a triple advantage is gained: +in the first place, the horse's attention is diverted to other things; +secondly,--the dreaded object loses half its terror when he finds no +intention manifested on the rider's part to force him nearer to it; and, +lastly,--he is enabled to see, and, consequently, avoid any danger in +front, or on the other side of him. + +A horse may be coaxed and encouraged to go up to the object that alarms +him; and, if the rider succeed in making him approach it, a beneficial +effect will be produced: the horse will discover that his fears were +groundless, and be less likely to start again from any similar cause. +After the first impulse of terror has subsided, the animal, if properly +managed, will even manifest an inclination to approach and examine the +object that alarmed him: but, while he is so doing, the rider must be on +her guard; for the least movement, or timidity, on her part,--the +rustling of a leaf, or the passing of a shadow,--will, in all +probability, frighten him again, and he will start round more violently +than before. After this, it will be exceedingly difficult to bring him +up to the object. Astley, however, whom we have before quoted, says, +that should the first trial prove unsuccessful, it must be repeated, +until you succeed; adding, that the second attempt should not be made +until the horse's fears have subsided, and his confidence returned. + +A horse that is rather shy, may, in many cases, be prevented from +starting, by the rider turning his head a little away from those +objects, which, she knows by experience, are likely to alarm him, as +well before she approaches as while she passes them. + +A lady, certainly, should not ride a horse addicted to shying, +stumbling, rearing, or any other vice: but she ought, nevertheless, to +be prepared against the occurrence of either; for, however careful and +judicious those persons, by whom her horse is selected, may be, and +however long a trial she may have had of his temper and merits, she +cannot be sure, when she takes the reins, that she may not have to use +her defences against rearing or kicking, or be required to exercise her +skill to save herself from the dangers attendant on starting or +stumbling, before she dismounts. The quietest horse may exhibit symptoms +of vice, even without any apparent cause, after many years of good +behaviour; the best-tempered are not immaculate, nor the surest-footed +infallible: it is wise, therefore, to be prepared. + +Stumbling is not merely unpleasant, but dangerous. To ride a horse that +is apt to trip, is like dwelling in a ruin: we cannot be comfortable if +we feel that we are unsafe; and, truly, there is no safety on the back +of a stumbling nag. The best advice we can offer our reader, as to such +an animal, is never to ride him after his demerits are discovered: +although the best horse in the world, may, we must confess, make a false +step, and even break his knees. + +When a horse trips, his head should be raised and supported, by +elevating the hand; and the lady should instantly throw herself back, so +as to relieve his shoulders from her weight. It is useless to whip a +horse after stumbling (as it is, also, after shying); for, it is clear, +he would not run the risk of breaking his knees, or his nose, if he +could help it. If a horse be constantly punished for stumbling, the +moment he has recovered from a false step, he will start forward, +flurried and disunited, in fear of the whip, and not only put the rider +to inconvenience, but run the risk of a repetition of his mishap, before +he regains his self-possession. It being generally the practice,--and a +very bad practice it is,--for riders to correct horses after having made +a false step, an habitual stumbler may be easily detected. When a horse, +that is tolerably safe, makes a false step, he gathers himself up, and +is slightly animated for a moment or two only, or goes on as if nothing +had happened; but if he be an old offender, he will remember the +punishment he has repeatedly received immediately after a stumble, and +dash forward in the manner we have described, expecting the usual +flagellation for his misfortune. + +When a horse evinces any disposition to kick, or rear, the reins should +be separated, and held by both hands, in the manner we have described in +a previous page. This should also be done when he attempts to run away, +grows restive, or shies. The body should also be put in its proper +balance for performing the defences: the shoulders should be thrown +back, the waist brought forward, and the head well poised on the neck. +Every part of the frame must be flexible, but perfectly ready for +action. + +[Illustration] + +The principal danger attendant on the horse's rearing is, that the rider +may fall over the croup, and, perhaps, pull the horse backward upon her. +To prevent either of these consequences, immediately that a horse +rises, slacken the reins, and bend the body forward, so as to throw its +weight on his shoulders; and the moment his fore-feet come to the +ground,--having recovered your position, gradually, as he +descends,--correct him smartly, if he will bear it; or, endeavour to +pull him round two or three times, and thus divert him from his object. + +The latter course may also be adopted to prevent his rearing, if the +rider should foresee his intention. + +A horse that displays any symptoms of kicking, should be held tight in +hand. While his head is well kept up, he cannot do much mischief with +his heels. + +[Illustration] + +If, however, when the rider is unprepared, in spite of her exertions he +should get his head down, she must endeavour, by means of the reins, to +prevent the animal from throwing himself; and also, by a proper +inclination of her body backward, to save herself from being thrown +forward. Should an opportunity occur, she must endeavour to give him two +or three sharp turns: this may also be done, with advantage, if she +detect any incipient attempts in the animal to kick. + +A horse inclined to rear seldom kicks much: but he may do both +alternately; and the rider should be prepared against his attempts, by +keeping her balance in readiness for either of the opponent defences. +She must also take care, that, while she is holding her horse's head up +and well in hand to keep him from kicking, she do not cause him to rear, +by too great a degree of pressure on his mouth. + +[Illustration] + + + + +EXERCISES IN THE PACES. + + +Although our limits will not permit us to enter into an elaborate detail +of the lessons taken by a pupil in the riding school, it is right that +we should give the learner a few useful hints on the rudiments of +riding, and not devote our whole space to the improvement of those who +have made considerable progress. While we endeavour to correct bad +habits in the self-taught artist,--in the pupil of a kind friend, an +affectionate relative, or of a mere groom,--to confirm the regularly +educated equestrian in the true principles and practice of the art,--to +remind her of what she has forgotten, and to improve upon the knowledge +she may have acquired,--we must not forget those among our young +friends, who, having never mounted a horse, are desirous of learning how +to ride with grace and propriety, and who dwell at a distance, or do not +feel inclined to take lessons, from a master. To such, one-third, at +least, of our preceding observations are applicable; and we recommend an +attentive perusal of what we have said, as to Mounting, the Aids, &c., +before they aspire to the saddle. Our other remarks they will find +useful when they have acquired a little practice. + +A quiet and well-trained horse, and a careful attendant, should, if +possible, be procured. A horse, that knows his duty, will almost +instruct his rider; and if a friend, who is accustomed to horses, or a +careful servant, accompany the pupil, there is little or nothing to +fear, even in the first attempts. The friend, or groom, may also, by his +advice, materially assist the learner in her progress. + +It would be needless for us to repeat our advice as to the manner of +mounting, holding the reins, making the horse advance, stop, turn, &c., +or the proper disposition of the body and limbs: all these, in her early +lessons, the pupil should gradually practise. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE WALK. + + +Let the pupil walk the horse forward in a straight line, and at a slow +rate, supporting his head in such a manner as to make him keep time in +the beats of his pace; but not holding the reins so tight as to impede +the measurement of his steps, or to make him break into a trot on being +slightly animated. The hand should be so held, that it may delicately, +but distinctly, feel, by the operation of the horse's mouth on the +reins, every beat of his action. If he do not exert himself +sufficiently, he should be somewhat animated. Should he break into a +trot, he must be checked by the reins; but the pull must neither be so +firm nor continued as to make him stop. The moment he obeys the rein and +drops into a walk, the hand is to be relaxed. Should he require +animating again, the movement for that purpose must be more gentle than +before, lest he once more break into a trot. + +[Illustration] + +After walking in a straight line for a short time, the lady should +practise the turn to the right and to the left; alternately using both +hands in these operations, in the manner directed in a previous page. +She must observe, that when she pulls the right rein in order to turn +the horse on that side, the other hand must be relaxed and lowered, or +advanced, to slacken the left rein and ease the horse's mouth, and _vice +versa_. + +If the horse do not readily obey the hand in turning, or bring forward +his croup sufficiently, he must be urged to throw himself more on the +bit, by an animation of the leg or whip. The animations, during the +first lessons, should be commenced with great gentleness, and the rider +will easily discover, by a little experience, to what degree it is +necessary to increase them, in order to procure obedience. This +observation should be attended to, were it only for the pupil's safety; +for, if she begin with her animations above the horse's spirit, his +courage will be so raised as to endanger, or, at least, alarm her, and +thus render what would otherwise be an agreeable exercise, unpleasant. + +After the pupil has practised walking in a straight line, and turning +on either side, for a few days, she may walk in a circle, and soon make +her horse wheel, change, demi-volt, &c. The circle should be large at +first; but when the pupil has acquired her proper equilibrium, &c., it +must, day by day, be gradually contracted. + +In riding round a circle, the inner rein should be rather lowered, and +the body inclined inward. This inclination must be increased during +succeeding lessons, as the circle is contracted, and the pupil quickens +the pace of her horse. She must practise in the large circle, until she +is able, by her hands and aids, to make the horse perform it correctly. +The inside rein must be delicately acted upon; if it be jerked, at +distant intervals, or borne upon, without intermission, the horse, in +the former case, will swerve in and out, and, in the latter, the rider's +hand, and the animal's mouth, will both become, in some degree, +deadened; and thus their correspondence will be decreased. In order to +procure correct action, the inner rein should be alternately borne on in +a very slight degree, and relaxed the next instant,--the hand keeping +exact time in its operations with the cadence of the horse's feet. The +direction is to be frequently changed; the pupil alternately working to +the right and the left, so as to bring both her hands into practice. + +[Illustration] + +As soon as the rider becomes tolerably well confirmed in her seat and +balance, and in the performance of the simple aids and animations, as +well in large as small circles, she should begin to ride in double +circles; at first of considerable diameter, but decreasing them, by +degrees, as she improves. Riding in double circles, is guiding the horse +to perform a figure of 8; and this, in the language of the +riding-school, is effecting the large and narrow change, according to +the size of the circles. The number of the circles may be increased, and +the sizes varied, with great advantage both to the rider and the horse. +They may be at some distance from each other, and the horse be guided to +work from one to the other diagonally. Thus, suppose he starts from _a_, +he may be made to leave the upper circle at _e_, and enter the lower one +at _d_; leave it at _c_, and enter the first again at _b_; and so +continue for some time: then, beginning at _f_, to quit the lower circle +at _c_, enter the upper one at _b_, leave it at _e_, and enter the lower +circle again at _d_. Thus, the position of the rider and horse are +alternately changed, from working from the right to a straight line, +thence to the left, thence to a straight line, and thence again to the +right. To give an instance of riding in a greater number of circles, of +different diameters, let the horse start from _a_ (see figure, p. 77), +and leave the upper circle at _b_, traversing to the outer small circle +at _c_, passing round, so as to enter the inner circle at _e_, and going +round, by _f_, to _g_; quitting it at _g_, and entering the lower +circle at _h_; quitting the latter again, after passing round _i_, at +_k_, and thence proceeding towards the outer small circle; entering at +_l_, going round and entering the inner circle at _e_, passing round, +and quitting it at _f_, to return again to _a_, by entering the upper +circle at _m_. These exercises may be diversified in various ways; the +pupil, for instance, may perform the upper circle, and one or both of +the pair below, return to the upper circle, cross from that, diagonally, +to the lower circle, quit it, at _h_ or _k_, to perform one of the +middle circles, return to the lower circle again, pass thence to the +other middle circle, and quit it at _c_ or _f_ (as the case may happen), +to return to the upper circle again. Nothing can be more beneficial than +this variety of action; it tends at once to confirm the pupil in her +seat; to exercise her in her balance and aids; and to render the horse +obedient: while, if he be kept in only one direction, he will perform +the figure mechanically, without either improving his own mouth and +action, or the rider's hands, aids, or balance. + +[Illustration] + +In the art of riding, working on a circle is called a _volt_; in angles, +or a zig-zag direction, _changes reverse_; and on half a circle from a +line, a _demi-volt_. These figures may first be performed separately; +but there can be no objection to the demi-volt and changes reverse +being afterwards embodied in the exercises on circles. As in the last +figure, the lady may work from _a_ in the mode directed, for some time; +then perform the variations, by going across from _a_ to _b_, and +describe a demi-volt round by _c_ _e_ to _a_; then return from _a_ to +_b_, and work a demi-volt, in an opposite direction, from _b_ to _a_: +thence, the lady may proceed in a line, enter the lower circle at _d_, +and re-commence riding in circles. The change reverse may at any time be +performed, by quitting the upper circle at _e_ or _f_, and working on +the traversing lines, so as to cross the lower circle at _g_ or _h_, and +enter it at _i_ or _k_. In fact, these exercises may be varied, _ad +libitum_; and the more they are diversified, the greater advantage the +lady will derive from them, provided she persevere until she can perform +one figure with accuracy, before she enter upon another that is more +complicated. Should the horse, in changing, yield his head, but withhold +his croup so as to destroy the union of his action, or mar the +perfection of the change, the rider should bring it to the proper +position, or sequence, by an aid of the whip or leg, as the case may be. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE TROT. + + +[Illustration] + +The lady should begin to practise this pace as soon as she is tolerably +perfect in the walking lessons. It will be as well for her, at first, to +trot in a straight line: she may then work in the large circle, and +proceed, gradually, through most of the figures which she has performed +in a walk. To make the horse advance from a walk to a trot, draw upwards +the little finger of each hand (or that of the left hand only, when the +pupil has advanced enough to hold the reins in one hand), and turn them +towards the body: an animation of the leg or whip should accompany this +motion. The trot should be commenced moderately: if the horse start off +too rapidly, or increase the pace beyond the rider's inclination, she +must check him by closing the hands firmly; and, if that will not +suffice, by drawing the little fingers upwards and towards the body. +This must not be done by a jerk, but delicately and gradually; and, as +soon as the proper effect is produced, the reins are again to be +slackened. If the horse do not advance with sufficient speed, or do not +bring up his haunches well, the animations used at starting him are to +be repeated. When the horse proceeds to the trot, the lady must +endeavour to preserve her balance, steadiness and pliancy, as in the +walk. The rise in trotting is to be acquired by practice. When the +horse, in his action, raises the rider from her seat, she should advance +her body, and rest a considerable portion of her weight on the right +knee; by means of which, and by bearing the left foot on the stirrup, +she may return to her former position without being jerked; the right +knee and the left foot, used in the same manner, will also aid her in +the rise. Particular attention must be paid to the general position of +the body while trotting: in this pace, ordinary riders frequently rise +to the left, which is a very bad practice, and must positively be +avoided. The lady should also take care not to raise herself too high; +the closer she maintains her seat, consistently with her own comfort, +the better. + + + + +THE CANTER. + + +The whole of the exercises on circles should next be performed in a +canter; which may be commenced from a short but animated trot, a walk, +or even a stop. If the horse be well trained, a slight pressure of the +whip and leg, and an elevation of the horse's head, by means of the +reins, will make him strike into a canter. Should he misunderstand, or +disobey these indications of the rider's will, by merely increasing his +walk or trot, or going into the trot from a walk, as the case may be, he +is to be pressed forward on the bit by an increased animation of the leg +and whip;--the reins, at the same time, being held more firmly, in order +to restrain him from advancing too rapidly to bring his haunches well +under him; for the support of which, in this position, he will keep both +his hind feet for a moment on the ground, while he commences the canter +by raising his fore feet together. + +[Illustration] + +The canter is by far the most elegant and agreeable of all the paces, +when properly performed by the horse and rider: its perfection consists +in its union and animation, rather than its speed. It is usual with +learners who practise without a master, to begin the canter previously +to the trot; but we are supported by good authority in recommending, +that the lady should first practise the trot, as it is certainly much +better calculated to strengthen and confirm her in the balance, seat &c. +than the canter. + +The lady is advised, at this stage of her progress, to practise the +paces, alternately, in the various combinations of the figures we have +described; performing her aids with greater power and accuracy in turning +and working in circles, when trotting or cantering, than when walking. +She should also perfect herself in her aids, the correspondence, and +balance, by alternately increasing and diminishing the speed in each +pace, until she attain a perfect mastery over herself and her horse, and +can not only make him work in what direction, and at what pace, but, +also, at what degree of speed in each pace, she pleases. + +The horse ought to lead with the right foot: should he strike off with +the left, the rider must either check him to a walk, and then make him +commence the canter again, or induce him to advance the proper leg by +acting on the near rein, pressing his side with the left leg, and +touching his right shoulder with the whip. His hind legs should follow +the direction of the fore legs, otherwise the pace will be untrue, +disunited, and unpleasant, both to horse and rider: therefore, if the +horse lead with his near fore leg (unless when cantering to the +left--the only case when the near legs should be advanced), or with his +near hind leg, except in the case just mentioned--although he may lead +with the proper fore leg--the pace is false, and ought to be rectified. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE GALLOP. + + +No lady of taste ever gallops on the road. Into this pace, the lady's +horse is never urged, or permitted to break, except in the field: and +not above one among a thousand of our fair readers, it may be surmised, +is likely to be endowed with sufficient ambition and boldness, to +attempt "the following of hounds." Any remarks, on our part, with regard +to this pace, would, therefore, be all but needless. + +[Illustration] + + + + +STOPPING AND BACKING. + + +The lady must learn how to perform the perfect stop in all the paces. +The perfect stop in the walk, is a cessation of all action in the +animal, produced instantaneously by the rider, without any previous +intimation being given by her to the horse. The slovenly stop is gradual +and uncertain. The incorrect stop is a momentary and violent check on +the action in the middle, instead of the conclusion, of the cadence, +while the fore legs are coming to the ground. The proper movements +should be performed, by the rider, so that the stop may conclude +correctly with the cadence. The firmness of the hand should be +increased, the body be thrown back, the reins drawn to the body, and the +horse's haunches pressed forward by the leg and whip, so that he may be +brought to bear on the bit. + +[Illustration] + +The stop in the trot is performed as in the walk: the rider should +operate when the advanced limbs of the animal, before and behind, +respectively, have come to the ground, so that the stop may be perfected +when the other fore leg and hind leg advance and complete the cadence. + +The stop in the canter is performed by the rider in a similar manner: +the time should be at the instant when the horse's fore feet are +descending;--the hind feet will immediately follow, and at once conclude +the cadence. In an extended canter, it is advisable to reduce the horse +to a short trot, prior to stopping him, or to perform the stop by a +_double arret_;--that is, in two cadences instead of one. + +It is necessary that the lady should learn how to make a horse _back_, +in walking: to do this, the reins must be drawn equally and steadily +towards the body, and the croup of the horse kept in a proper direction +by means of the leg and whip. + + + + +LEAPING. + + +In riding-schools, ladies who never intend to hunt, are frequently +taught to leap the bar. The practice is certainly beneficial; as it +tends to confirm the seat, and enables the rider more effectually to +preserve her balance, should she ever be mounted on an unsteady or +vicious horse. + +[Illustration] + +Leaps are taken, either standing or _flying_, over a bar, which is so +contrived as to fall, when touched by the horse's feet, if he do not +clear it: it is placed at a short distance from the ground, at first; +and raised, by degrees, as the rider improves. The standing leap, which +is practised first, the horse takes from the halt, close to the bar. The +flying leap is taken from any pace, and is easier than the standing +leap, although the latter is considered the safer of the two to begin +with; as, from the steadiness with which it is made by a trained horse, +the master or assistant can aid the pupil at the slightest appearance of +danger. + +[Illustration] + +The position of the rider is to be governed in this, as in all other +cases, by the action of the horse. No weight is to be borne on the +stirrup; for, in fact, pressure on the stirrup will tend to raise the +body, rather than keep it close to the saddle. The legs--particularly +the right one--must be pressed closely against the saddle, and the +reins yielded to the horse, so that the rider can just distinguish a +slight correspondence between her own hand and the horse's mouth. The +animations thus produced, and the invitation thus given, will make the +horse rise. As his fore quarters ascend, the lady is to advance forward; +the back being bent inward, and the head kept upright and steady. A +moment before the horse's hind legs quit the ground, the body should be +inclined backward; the rider taking care not to bear heavily on the +reins, lest the horse force her hand, and pull her forward on his neck, +or over his head, as he descends. When the leap is cleared, the rider +should bring the horse together, if at all disunited, and resume her +usual position. + +In the flying leap, the seat is to be preserved as in the standing leap; +except, that it is needless, and, indeed, unwise, to advance the body as +the horse rises: because, in the flying leap, the horse's position, +especially in a low leap, is more horizontal than when he rises at the +bar from a halt; and there is great danger of the rider being thrown, if +she lean forward, in case the horse suddenly check himself and refuse +the leap; which circumstance occasionally happens. The waist should be +brought forward, and the body suffered to take that inclination backward +which will be produced by the spring forward of the horse. The horse's +head is to be guided towards the bar, and the reins yielded to him as he +advances. + +The proper distance for a horse to run previous to the leap, is from ten +to fifteen yards. If he be well trained, he may be suffered to take his +own pace; but it is necessary to animate an indolent animal into a +short, collected gallop, and urge him, by strong aids, to make the leap. + +[Illustration] + + + + +DISMOUNTING. + + +The first operation, preparatory to dismounting, is to bring the horse +to an easy, yet perfect, stop. If the lady be light and dexterous, she +may dismount without assistance, from a middle-sized horse: but, it is +better not to do so if the animal be high. + +The right hand of the lady, when preparing to dismount, is to receive +the reins, and be carried to the off crutch of the saddle. The reins +should be held sufficiently tight to restrain the horse from advancing; +and yet not so firm as to cause him to back or rear; nor uneven, lest it +make him swerve. + +The lady should next disengage her right leg, clearing the dress as she +raises her knee; remove her right hand to the near crutch; and then take +her foot from the stirrup. + +Thus far the process is the same whether the lady dismount with or +without assistance. + +If the lady be assisted, the gentleman, or groom, may either lift her +completely off the saddle to the ground; or, taking her left hand in his +left hand, place his right hand on her waist, and, as she springs off, +support her in her descent. She may also alight, if she be tolerably +active, by placing her right hand in that of the gentleman (who, in +this case, must stand at the horse's shoulder), and descend without any +other support. Should there be any objection to, or difficulty found in +alighting by either of these modes, the gentleman, or groom, may place +himself immediately in front of the lady, who is then to incline +sufficiently forward for him to receive her weight, by placing his hands +under her arms, and thus easing her descent. + +[Illustration] + +If the lady dismount without assistance, after the hand is carried from +the off to the near crutch, she must turn round so as to be able to +take, in her left hand, a lock of the horse's mane; by the aid of which, +and by bearing her right hand on the crutch, she may alight without +difficulty. In dismounting thus, without assistance, she must turn as +she quits the saddle, so as to descend with her face towards the horse's +side. + +[Illustration] + +By whatever mode the lady dismounts, but especially if she do so without +assistance, she should--to prevent any unpleasant shock on reaching the +ground--bend her knees, suffer her body to be perfectly pliant, and +alight on her toes, or the middle of her feet. She is neither to +relinquish her hold, nor is the gentleman, or groom, if she make use of +his ministry, to withdraw his hand, until she is perfectly safe on the +ground. + +In order to dismount with grace and facility, more practice is required +than that of merely descending from the saddle after an exercise or a +ride. It is advisable to mount and dismount, for some days, several +times, successively, either before or after the ride;--commencing with +the most simple modes, until a sufficient degree of confidence and +experience is acquired to perform either of these operations in a proper +manner, with the mere aid of the assistant's hand. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS. + + +The lady should perform her first lessons with a snaffle bridle, holding +the reins in both hands, and without a stirrup. When she has acquired +some degree of practice in the balance, aids, and general government of +the horse, she may use a bridle with double reins, and hold them in the +left hand, managing them as we have directed in some of the preceding +pages. + +If the lady be but in her noviciate in the art, we strongly advise her +not to place too much reliance on her own expertness, or to attempt too +much at first; but, rather, to proceed steadily, and be satisfied with a +gradual improvement; as it is utterly impossible to acquire perfection +in the nicer operations of riding, before the minor difficulties are +overcome. + +The lady, in all cases, should recollect that her horse requires +occasional haltings and relaxation. The time occupied in each lesson +should be in proportion to the pace and animation in which it has been +performed. If the exercise be varied and highly animated, the horse +should rest to recruit himself at the expiration of twelve or fifteen +minutes; when refreshed, by halting, he may be made to go through +another of the same, or rather less duration, and then be put up for +the day. It would be still better to make two halts in the same space of +time;--the exercise taken in such a lesson being equal to three hours' +moderate work. When the lessons are less animated, they may be made +proportionally longer; but, it is always better, if the pupil err in +this respect, to do so on the side of brevity, than, by making her +lessons too long, to harass her horse. + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHITEHEAD AND COMP^Y. PRINTERS, 76, FLEET STREET, LONDON. + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +The following typographical errors have been corrected. + +29 diminutive poney changed to diminutive pony +47 dependance changed to dependence +75 inner rein is be changed to inner rein should be + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Young Lady's Equestrian Manual, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG LADY'S EQUESTRIAN MANUAL *** + +***** This file should be named 29248.txt or 29248.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/2/4/29248/ + +Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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