own riding, that they neglect to
acquire a good seat over a country. Their slipshod style is neither
graceful, nor does it enable them to give their horse any assistance, if
he happens to make a mistake; for they are certain to tumble off, if
they receive any unusual provocation.

The hold the lady has on the crutches should prevent her falling, if the
animal stops dead when coming up to a fence. A lady who has acquired a
good firm seat ought never to be displaced from her saddle while her
mount remains on his legs.

Though progress in the art of riding without reins must of necessity be
slow and somewhat tedious at first, still, I would strongly recommend
all ladies who are able to do so to practise this method, for they will
find it the best and most rapid by which they can acquire a good and
firm seat on horseback. The great difficulty in this work is to find a
man who can use the long reins and manage a horse with correctness and
precision in the various paces, and in jumping. It would be most
dangerous for a lady to allow herself to be driven by the long reins by
any man who was not a thorough master of this difficult art of horse
guidance and control. Even with such a man, the horse to be ridden and
jumped without reins should be previously trained for this work, and
should be taught to stop dead the instant he receives the word of
command. As a lady who is inexperienced in this kind of riding, may get
a toss when being turned, especially if she tries to hook back her right
leg, it is obvious that the "falling" should be soft and that the pupil
be supplied with a safety bar and a safety skirt. It will be seen by the
extract from the _Queen_, page 60, that even small girls who were taught
to sit their horses in the manner that I have described in this book,
were able to ride well over fences without reins after two lessons.

CHAPTER XIV.

NERVE.

No lady can enjoy riding, or become proficient in that art, unless she
has good nerve. Luckily, the large majority of girls who learn to ride
possess abundance of nerve and pluck, an excess of which is often a
danger to safety in the hunting field. It may be noticed, however, that
the finest horsewomen do not make any showy display of their prowess,
for they ride to hunt, and do not hunt to ride. Pluck is an admirable
quality as far as it goes, but it must be supported by nerve.

It is the custom to laugh at people who are suffering from temporary
loss of ne