ed. On the other hand, our
author observes, with great good sense, though in terms somewhat
homely,--addressing, it is to be noticed, his remarks to
gentlemen,--"the inconvenience of riding on the left of the lady, is,
that if you ride near, to give her any assistance, you are liable to
rub, or incommode, the lady's legs, and alarm her; and the spur is
liable to catch, or tear, the lady's habit: if the roads are dirty, your
horse, likewise, bespatters the lady's habit. On the right hand of the
lady, these inconveniences do not occur, if you ride ever so close; and
you are situated next the carriages, and the various objects you meet,
which, in narrow roads, or, passing near, might intimidate a lady. For
these reasons, I think it most proper to take the right hand of a lady."

[Illustration]

MOUNTING.

On approaching a horse, the skirt of the habit should be gracefully
gathered up, and the whip be carried in the right hand.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

It is the groom's duty, when the rider approaches, to gather up the
reins with his left hand, smoothly and evenly, the curb rein between,
and somewhat tighter than the bridoon, properly dividing them with his
fore-finger. The lady advancing, on the near side of the horse, to the
saddle, receives them a little more forward than the point of the
horse's shoulder, with her right hand, which still retains and passes
the whip over the saddle to the _off_ or right side. On taking the
bridle in this manner, her fore-finger is placed between the reins: the
groom then removes his hand, and the lady draws her own back, suffering
the reins to glide gently and evenly through her fingers, until she
reaches the near crutch of the saddle, which she takes with her right
hand, still holding the whip and reins, and places herself close to the
near side of the horse, with her back almost turned towards him. The
groom now quits his former post, and prepares to assist her to mount.
The horse being thus left to the lady's government, it is proper, that,
in passing her hand through the reins she should not have suffered them
to become so loose as to prevent her, when her hand is on the crutch,
from having a light, but steady bearing on the bit, and thus keeping the
horse to his position during the process of mounting. She next places
her left foot firmly in the right hand of the groom, or gentleman, in
attendance, who stoops to receive it. The lady then puts her left hand
on