s been
entirely mastered. If the body is nicely balanced at sharp turns at the
walk, with the weight evenly distributed on the saddle, and both legs
kept perfectly steady and in their right position, a great deal will
have been done towards acquiring a firm seat.

When the pupil is able to ride with ease and grace at the walk, she may
receive a lesson in trotting. I think it is best to teach the trot
before the canter, because the majority of horses trot a few steps
before they strike off into the canter.

[Illustration: Fig. 93.--Preparing to rise at the trot, with stirrup at
correct length].

As an ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory, the instructor should
first of all show her pupil how the trot is correctly executed, either
without a skirt or with one pinned back, so that the position of her
legs may be seen. She should try to make her practical demonstrations
perfectly clear, and should encourage her pupil to question her
concerning any points in this difficult pace which she does not
understand. It is a good plan to trot both with and without a stirrup,
in order to show that the weight of the body during the rise should be
placed on the right leg, and not on the stirrup. Reference to Figs. 79,
93, 94, 98, 99, 100, 102 and 104 will show that the right leg remains in
precisely the same position at the walk, trot, canter, and leap. The
great difficulty in trotting is to keep this leg absolutely steady, and
to prevent it from working backwards and forwards with the motion of the
body, which can be done only by maintaining a steady pressure against
the upper crutch with the right knee. When this has been obtained, and
the rise can be made with the right leg held motionless, the rider will
find herself able somewhat to relax this pressure, but in a mild form it
is always necessary to press the right knee against the upper crutch in
trotting, so as to aid the balance and to avoid putting too much weight
on the stirrup. The right leg from the knee down should lie flat and in
a slanting position against the horse's shoulder (Fig. 79), the movement
of the animal's limb being distinctly felt by the rider's leg which is
resting against it. Having ascertained that the stirrup is sufficiently
long to admit of the flat of the hand being placed between the left leg
and the leaping-head when the rider is not exercising grip (Fig.
82)--which will allow the lady to clear the leaping-head when rising at
the trot--she should