ddle. She has ridden in most
quarters of the globe; and, as if she sighed for other worlds to
conquer, and were _blasee_ about all sorts and conditions of horses, she
rode a zebra at Calcutta which was broken within an hour by her husband
sufficiently to be saddled and bridled. Her experiences on his back are
entertainingly set forth in her book _The Horsewoman_, which is well
worth the reading, not only for its hints on horsemanship, but for the
many amusing sporting anecdotes. Her other book is one which one would
hardly have expected from a woman whose life has been in so great a
measure devoted to horses and sport. It is called _My Leper Friends_. A
friend indeed they must have thought her, with her devoted sympathy and
repeated endeavour to alleviate the sufferings from the most distressing
and repulsive malady in the world. Another book is now on the stocks,
the preparation of which keeps Captain and Mrs. Hayes for the present in
England. That done, they will soon start again on their travels, England
being a place that never holds their roving spirits long. The
curiosities, and beautiful stuffs and feathers, which they have gleaned
in many lands will have to disappear into big boxes and be warehoused,
until some fresh store of adventures recalls the wanderers home.

"Meanwhile she teaches the art, of which she is indeed a past mistress,
in a way which it is a pleasure and profit to see; and I can most
conscientiously advise any mother to send her girls to her if she wishes
them to at once become perfect horsewomen while remaining perfect
ladies."

[Illustration: Fig. 30.--Child jumping without reins.]

We had so many charming pupils during our short stay in London, that I
shall always regard this teaching period as one of the pleasantest
events of my life. I often think about them all, and wonder how they are
getting on with their riding, and, as their various difficulties have
been present in my mind while writing this book, I have done my best to
solve them all as clearly as possible. We put up small hurdles and got
our tiny pupils to ride over them, because I saw that they had grasped
my explanation and demonstrations of balance and grip, and it made them
mightily proud of themselves, and keen on learning all they could about
riding, when they found that they could sit over fences with ease.
Although the school hurdles were small, our grey horse which they rode
was a big jumper, which could negotiate a five-