es. Much of
the soreness and misery which ladies suffer in their efforts to trot,
would be obviated if the leaping-head of their saddles were placed as in
Fig. 16.

[Illustration: Fig. 94.--Rising at the trot, with stirrup at correct
length.]

[Illustration: Fig. 95.--Preparing to rise at the trot, with stirrup too
long.]

Although a well-executed trot looks nice, it should be only sparingly
indulged in, because it is more fatiguing to the rider than the canter
and is particularly liable to give a horse a sore back; for, do what the
lady will to sit "square," the saddle, supposing she rises, cannot fail
to have some side motion. Of course the rider should walk or trot, and
not canter, on metalled roads and hard ground, but she should always
take advantage of any bit of soft "going" and indulge in a nice easy
canter on it.

A lady learning to trot will require to do her hair up securely with
plenty of hair-pins, pay attention to the fit of her hat, and see that
it is provided with elastic an inch wide (p. 114), because she will find
her head jerked about a good deal during her first lessons. The trot
should be properly studied in a school or enclosure before a lady is
taken out on the roads, for she can learn nothing by "slithering" along
anyhow, and will be liable to contract a bad method of riding, which
will probably prevent her from ever becoming a good horsewoman. We must
remember that the trot is the most difficult of all paces, and can be
correctly acquired only after much patient practice; but it is worth
doing well. Very few ladies excel in this art, for the simple reason
that they do not care to go through the drudgery of it. Some ladies are
so impatient that they give up the study of a pace as soon as they can
stick on their saddles. How few who hunt can really ride well! In
Leicestershire a fine horsewoman remarked to me that several ladies ride
hard who are indifferent horsewomen--a fact which I think we may see
demonstrated in every hunting-field; but what is worth doing at all is
surely worth doing well, and a lady should strive to be a good
horsewoman as well as a plucky rider. When a horse increases his pace
without being ordered to do so, he should be at once checked by a pull,
not a jerk, on the reins, which should be accompanied by a word, such as
"steady," uttered in a warning, determined tone that he will understand;
because he should never be allowed to take the initiative, which he
would do