TS 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 remedi