ledge of every detail. If you are a novice
you should begin by learning the name and use of each part of your
harness. You should be able to tell at a glance if everything is right,
and you can not be too severe if anything is out of gear or the animals
are not properly groomed. The best position on the box is a firm seat
with your feet close together. Drive with one hand and keep the whip
hand free, except for its legitimate use in touching your horses now and
then, and in saluting.

A man always sits with his back to the horses in a Victoria, or any
other four-seated vehicle, when there are two ladies with him. When
there is only one he sits by her side. He alights first with a view to
assisting the ladies. He gets in last.

It is not good form in New York for unmarried couples to drive together,
unaccompanied by a chaperon. It is permitted at Newport and the country
and seaside resorts, but a groom always sits on the back seat. In this
case the woman is frequently the whip.

A man and a woman may drive together in the city in a hansom, although
this is considered unconventional. Buggy driving is not in vogue in New
York.

_Riding_, since the advent of the wheel, is not as fashionable an
amusement in cities as formerly.

Riding classes, which meet two evenings during the week, usually in the
Lenten season, are still very popular. These gatherings take place at a
riding academy, and a competent riding master is in charge.

When riding with a woman, a man should always be at her right. A woman's
riding habit falls to the left and she is mounted from the left. In
assisting her to mount, which, even when a groom is present, is the
gallant thing to do, a man should grasp the bridle with the left hand
and hold his right so that she can step into it. The woman puts her left
foot, therefore, in a man's right hand, and holds to the pommel with her
right hand. The escort gives his arm a slight spring, and with a
corresponding action on the part of the fair equestrienne, she is
lifted into the saddle. The man faces the near side of the horse, or the
left. He takes the reins in his right hand and with it grasps the pommel
of the saddle, shortening the reins until he feels the mouth of the
horse. He inserts the left foot in the stirrup and springs into the
saddle.

In speaking of a pommel, I wish it understood that the English saddle is
used, which has no visible pommel, but that part of it is still called
by the name in