,,esmeralda999999 this rare and charming book4 ,,in ,,the ,,riding-,,school2 ,,chats ,,with ,,esmeralda ,,by ,,theo4 ,,stephenson ,,browne #ahij -- ,we two will ride1 ,lady mine1 ,at your pleasure1 side by side1 ,laugh and chat4 ,,aldrich ,,to ,,the ,,modern ,,men ,,of ,,uz2 ,,my ,,french1 ,,english1 ,,and ,,american ,,masters4 ,,contents ,i4 ,a ,,preliminary ,,chat ,,with ,,esmeralda ,the proper frame of mind --,dress--,preparatory exercises4 ,,ii4 ,,shall ,,you ,,take ,,your ,,mother1 ,,esmeralda8 ,the first lesson-- ,various ways of mounting--,slippery reins--,clucking--,after a ride4 ,,iii4 ,,chat ,,during ,,the ,,second ,,lesson ,equestrian language-- ,trotting without a horse--,exercises in and out of the saddle4 ,,iv4 ,,esmeralda',s ,,trials ,,at ,,the ,,third ,,lesson ,pounding the saddle --,a critical spectator--,a few rein-holds4 ,v4 ,,esmeralda ,,on ,,the ,,road ,good and bad and indifferent riders-- ,a very little runaway4 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,ordeal ,,of ,a ,,private ,,lesson ,voltes and half voltes-- ,on the right hand of the school--,imagination as a teacher4 ,,vii4 ,,esmeralda ,,at ,a ,,music ,,ride ,sitting like a poker--,the ways of the bad rider4 ,,viii4 ,,esmeralda ,,in ,,class ,keeping distances--,corners-- ,proper place in the saddle--,exercises to correct nervous stiffness4 ,,ix4 ,,elementary ,,military ,,evolutions ,forward1 forward1 and again forward6--,how to guide a horse easily4 ,x4 ,,chat ,,during ,,an ,,exercise ,,ride ,the deeds of the three-legged trotter--,the omniscient rider--,backing a step or two-- ,fun in the dressing-room4 ,,xi4 ,,esmeralda ,,is ,,managed ,intervals--,the secret of learning to ride4 ,,xii4 ,,chat ,,about ,,the ,,habit ,riding-dress in history and fiction-- ,cloth1 linings and sewing--,boots1 gloves1 and hats4 ,,xiii4 ,,chat ,,about ,,teachers ,foreign and native instructors--,why ,american women learn slowly--,keep riding6 ,i4 ,impatient to mount and ride4 ,longfellow4 ,and you want to learn how to ride1 ,esmeralda8 ,why8 ,because8 ,reason good and sufficient1 ,esmeralda2 to require anything more definite would be brutal1 although an explanation of your motives would render the task of directing you much easier4 ,as you are an ,american1 it is reasonable to presume that you desire to learn quickly2 as you are youthful1 it is certain that you earnestly wish to look pretty in the saddle1 and as you are a youthful ,american1 there is not a shadow of a doubt that your objections to authoritative teaching will be almost unconquerable1 and that you will insist upon being treated1 from the very beginning1 as if your small head contained the knowledge of a ,hiram ,woodruff or of an ,archer4 ,perhaps you may find a teacher who will comply with your wishes2 who will be exceedingly deferential to your little whims2 will unhesitatingly accept your report of your own sensations and your hypotheses as to their cause2 and1 ,esmeralda1 when once your eyes behold that model man1 be content1 and go and take lessons of another1 for either he is a pretentious humbug1 careless of everything except his fees1 or he is an ignoramus4 ,it may not be necessary that you should be insulted or ridiculed in order to become a rider1 although there are girls who seem utterly impervious by teaching by gentle methods4 ,is it not a matter of tradition that ,queen ,victoria owes her regal carriage to the rough drill-sergeant who1 with no effect upon his pupil1 horrified her governess1 and astonished her1 by sharply saying3 ,a pretty ,queen you'll make with that dot-and-go-one gait6 ,up went the little chin1 back went the shoulders1 down went the elbows1 and1 in her wrath1 the little princess did precisely what the old soldier had been striving to make her do2 but his delighted cry of ,just right6 was a surprise to her1 inasmuch as she had been conscious of no muscular effort whatsoever4 ,from that time forth1 incessit regina4 ,you may not need such rough treatment1 but it is necessary that you should be corrected every moment and almost every second until you learn to correct yourself1 until every muscle in your body becomes self-conscious1 and until an improper position is almost instantly felt as uncomfortable1 and the teacher who does not drill you steadily and continuously1 permits you to fall into bad habits4 ,if you were a ,german princess1 ,esmeralda1 you would be compelled to sit in the saddle for many an hour without touching the reins1 while your patient horse walked around a tan bark ring1 and you balanced yourself and straightened yourself1 and adjusted arms1 shoulders1 waist1 knees and feet1 under the orders of a drill- sergeant1 who might1 indeed1 sugar-coat his phrases with ,your ,highness1 but whose intonations would say ,you must1 as plainly as if he were drilling an awkward squad of peasant recruits4 ,if you were the daughter of a hundred earls1 you would be mounted on a ,shetland pony and shaken into a good seat long before you outgrew short frocks1 and afterwards you would be trained by your mother or older sisters1 by the gentlemen of your family1 or perhaps1 by some trusted old groom1 or in a good ,london riding- school1 and1 no matter who your instructor might be1 you would be compelled to be submissive and obedient4 ,but you object that you cannot afford to pay for very careful1 minute1 and long-continued training2 that you must content yourself with such teaching as you can obtain by riding in a ring under the charge of two or three masters1 receiving such instruction as they find time to give you while maintaining order and looking after an indefinite number of other pupils4 ,your real teacher in that case must be yourself1 striving assiduously to obey every order given to you1 no matter whether it appears unreasonable or seems1 as the ,concord young woman said1 in accordance with the latest scientific developments and the esoteric meaning of differentiated animal existences4 ,that sentence1 by the way1 silenced her master1 and nearly caused him to have a fit of illness from suppression of language1 but perhaps it might affect your teacher otherwise1 and you would better reserve it for that private mental rehearsal of your first lesson which you will conduct in your maiden meditation4 ,you are your own best teacher1 you understand1 and you may be encouraged to know that one of the foremost horsemen in the country says3 ,i have had many teachers1 but my best master was here1 touching his forehead4 ,where do you ride1 sir8 asked one of his pupils1 after vainly striving with reins and whip1 knee1 heel and spur to execute a movement which the master had compelled his horse to perform while apparently holding himself as rigid as bronze4 ,i ride here1 sir1 was the grim answer1 with another tap on the forehead4 ,and first1 ,esmeralda1 being feminine1 you wish to know what you are to wear4 ,until you have taken at least ten lessons1 it would be simply foolishness for you to buy any special thing to wear1 except a plain flannel skirt1 the material for which should not cost you more than two dollars and a half4 ,harper's ,bazar has published two or three patterns1 following which any dressmaker can make a skirt quite good enough for the ring4 ,a jersey1 a ,norfolk jacket1 a simple street jacket or even an ordinary basque waist2 any small1 close-fitting hat1 securely pinned to your hair1 and very loose gloves will complete a dress quite suitable for private lessons1 and not so expensive that you need grudge the swift destruction certain to come to all equestrian costumes4 ,nothing is more ludicrous than to see a rider clothed in a correct habit1 properly scant and unhemmed1 to avoid all risks when taking fences and hedges in a hunting country1 with her chimney-pot hat and her own gold-mounted crop1 her knowing little riding-boots and buckskins1 with outfit enough for ,baby ,blake and ,di ,vernon and ,lady ,gay ,spanker1 and to see that young woman dancing in the saddle1 now here and now there1 pulling at the reins in a manner to make a rocking-horse rear1 and squealing tearfully and jerkily3 ,oh1 ho-ho-oh1 wh-h-hat m-m-makes h-h-him g-g-go s-s-s-so8 ,if you think it possible that you may be easily discouraged1 and that your first appearance in the riding-school will be your last1 you need not buy any skirt1 for you will find several in the school dressing-room1 and1 for once1 you may submit to wearing a garment not your own4 ,shall you buy trousers or tights8 ,wait till you decide to take lessons before buying either1 first to avoid unnecessary expense1 and second1 because until experience shall show what kind of a horsewoman you are likely to be1 you cannot tell which will be the more suitable and comfortable4 ,laced boots1 a plain1 dark underskirt1 cut princess1 undergarments without a wrinkle1 and no tight bands to compress veins1 or to restrain muscles by adding their resistance to the force of gravitation make up the list of details to which you must give your attention before leaving home4 ,if you be addicted to light gymnastics you will find it beneficial to practise a few movements daily1 both before taking your first lesson and as long as you may continue to ride4 ,first--,hold your shoulders square and perfectly rigid1 and turn the head towards the right four times1 and then to the left four times4 ,second--,bend the head four times to the right and four times to the left4 ,third--,bend the head four times to the back and four times to the front4 ,these exercises will enable you to look at anything which may interest you1 without distracting the attention of your horse1 as you might do if you moved your shoulders1 and thus disturbed your equilibrium on your back4 ,feeling the change1 he naturally supposes that you want something of him1 and when you become as sensitive as you should be1 you will notice that at such times he changes his gait perceptibly4 ,fourth--,bend from the waist four times to the right1 four to the left1 four times forward1 and four times backward4 ,these movements will not only make the waist more flexible1 but will strengthen certain muscles of the leg4 ,fifth--,execute any movement which experience has shown you will square your shoulders and flatten your back most effectually4 ,throw the hands backward until they touch one another1 or bring your elbows together behind you1 if you can4 ,hold the arms close to the side1 the elbows against the waist1 the forearm at right angles with the arm1 the fists clenched1 with the little finger down and the knuckles facing each other1 and describe ellipses1 first with one shoulder1 then with the other1 then with both4 ,this movement is found in ,mason's ,school ,gymnastics1 and is prescribed by ,m4 de ,bussigny in his little manual for horsewomen1 and it will prove admirable in its effects4 ,stretch the arms at full length above the head1 the palms of the hands at front1 the thumbs touching one another1 and then carry them straight outward without bending the elbows1 and bend them down1 the palms still in front1 until the little finger touches the leg4 ,this movement is recommended by ,mason and also by ,blaikie1 and as it is part of the ,west ,point setting up drill1 it may be regarded as considered on good authority to be efficacious in producing an erect carriage4 ,stand as upright as you can1 your arms against your side1 the forearm at right angles1 as before1 and jerk your elbows downward four times4 ,sixth--,sit down on the floor with your feet stretched straight before you1 and resting on their heels1 and drop backward until you are lying flat1 then resume your first position1 keeping your arms and forearms at right angles during the whole exercise4 ,still sitting1 bend as far to the right as you can1 then bend as far as possible to the left1 resuming a perfectly erect position between the movements1 and keeping your feet and legs still4 ,rising1 stand on your toes and let yourself down fifty times2 then stand on your heels1 and raise and lower your toes fifty times4 ,the firmer you hold your arms and hands during these movements1 the better for you1 ,esmeralda1 and for the horse who will be your first victim4 ,already one can seem to see him1 poor1 innocent beast1 miserable in the memories of an army of beginners1 his mouth so accustomed to being jerked in every direction1 without anything in particular being meant by it1 that neither ,arabia nor ,mexico can furnish a bit which would surprise him1 or startle his four legs from their propriety4 ,no cow is more placid1 no lamb more gentle2 he would not harm a tsetse fly or kick a snapping terrier4 ,his sole object in life is to keep himself and his rider out of danger1 and to betake himself to that part of the ring in which the least labor should be expected of him4 ,the tiny girls who ride him call him dear old ,billy ,buttons1 or darling ,gypsy1 or nice ,sir ,archer4 ,heaven knows what he calls them in his heart6 ,were he human1 it would be something to be expressed by dashes and d's2 but1 being a horse1 he is silent1 and shows his feelings principally by heading for the mounting-stand whenever he thinks that a pupil's hour is at an end4 ,why that long face1 ,esmeralda8 ,must you do all those exercises8 ,bless your innocent soul1 no6 ,dress yourself and run away4 ,the exercises will be good for you1 but they are not absolutely necessary4 ,remember1 however1 that your best riding-school master is behind your own pretty forehead1 and that your brain can save your muscles many a strain and many a pound of labor4 ,and remember1 too1 that1 in riding1 as in everything else1 to him that hath shall be given1 and the harder and firmer your muscles when you begin1 the greater will be the benefit which you will derive from your rides1 and the more you will enjoy them4 ,the pale and weary invalid may gain flesh and color with every lesson1 but the bright and healthy pupil1 whose muscles are like iron1 whose heart and lungs are in perfect order1 can ride for hours without weariness1 and double her strength in a comparatively short time4 ,but--,esmeralda1 dear1 before you go--whisper6 ,why do you want to take riding lessons8 ,theodore asked you to go out with him next ,monday1 and ,nell said that she would lend you her habit1 and you thought that you would take three lessons and learn to ride8 ,there1 go and dress1 child2 go and dress6 ,,ii4 ,bring forth the horse6 ,byron4 ,being ready to start1 ,esmeralda1 the question now arises3 ,is a riding school1 as the girl asked about the new ,french play1 a place to which one can take her mother8 ,little girls too young to dress themselves should be attended by their mothers or by their maids1 but an older girl no more needs guardianship at riding-school than at any other place at which she receives instruction1 and there is no more reason why her mother should follow her into the ring than into the class-room4 ,her presence1 even if she preserve absolute silence1 will probably embarrass both teacher and pupil1 and although her own children may not be affected by it1 it will be decidedly troublesome to the children of other mothers4 ,if1 instead of being quiet1 she talk1 and it is the nature of the mother who accompanies her daughter to riding-school to talk volubly and loudly1 she will become a nuisance1 and even a source of actual danger1 by distracting the attention of the master from his pupils1 and the attention of the pupils from their horses1 to say nothing of the possibility that some of her pretty1 ladylike screams of1 ,oh1 darling1 ,i know you're tired6 or1 ,oh1 what a horrid horse2 see him jump6 may really frighten some lucky animal whose acquaintance has included no women but the sensible4 ,if she be inclined to laugh at the awkward beginners1 and to ridicule them audibly--but really1 ,esmeralda1 it should not be necessary to consider such an action1 impossible in a well-bred woman1 unlikely in a woman of good feeling6 ,leave your mother1 if not at home1 in the dressing-room or the reception room1 and go to the mounting-stand alone4 ,in some schools you may ride at any time1 but the usual morning hours for ladies' lessons are from nine o'clock to noon1 and the afternoon hours from two o'clock until four4 ,some masters prefer that their pupils should have fixed days and hours for their lessons1 and others allow the very largest liberty4 ,for your own sake it is better to have a regular time for your lessons1 but if you cannot manage to do so1 do not complain if you sometimes have to wait a few minutes for your horse1 or for your master4 ,the school is not carried on entirely for your benefit1 although you will at first assume that it is4 ,as a rule1 a single lesson will cost two dollars1 but a ten-lesson ticket will cost but fifteen dollars1 a twenty-lesson ticket twenty-five dollars1 and a ticket for twenty exercise rides twenty dollars4 ,in schools which give music-rides1 there are special rates for the evenings upon which they take place1 but you need not think of music-rides until you have had at least the three lessons which you desire4 ,buy your ticket before you go to the dressing-room1 and ask if you may have a key to a locker4 ,dress as quickly as you can1 and if there be no maid in the dressing-room1 lock up your street clothing and keep your key4 ,if there be a maid1 she will attend to this matter1 and will assist you in putting on your skirt1 showing you that it buttons on the left side1 and that you must pin it down the basque of your jersey or your jacket in the back1 unless you desire it to wave wildly with every leap of your horse4 ,flatter not yourself that lead weights will prevent this6 ,when a horse begins a canter that sends you1 if your feelings be any gauge1 eighteen good inches nearer the ceiling1 do you think that an ounce of lead will remain stationary8 give a final touch to your hairpins and hatpins1 button your gloves1 pull the rubber straps of your habit over your right toe and left heel1 and you are ready4 ,in most schools1 you will be made to mount from the ground1 and you will find it surprisingly and delightfully easy to you4 ,what it may be to the master who puts you into the saddle is another matter1 but nine out of ten teachers will make no complaint1 and will assure you that they do very well4 ,if you wish to deceive any other girl's inconsiderate mother whom you may find comfortably seated in a good position for criticism1 and to make her suppose that you are an old rider1 keep silence4 ,do not criticise your horse or his equipments1 do not profess inability to mount1 but when you master says ,now6 step forward and stand facing in the same direction of your horse1 placing your right hand on the upper pommel of the two on the left of the saddle4 ,set your left foot in whichever hand he holds out for it4 ,some masters offer the left1 some the right1 and some count for a pupil1 and others prefer that she should count for yourself4 ,the usual ,one1 two1 three6 means1 one1 rest the weight strongly on the right foot2 two1 bend the right knee1 keeping the body perfectly erect2 three1 spring up from the right foot1 turning very slightly to the left1 so as to place yourself sideways on the saddle1 your right hand toward the horse's head4 ,some masters offer a shoulder as a support for a pupil's left hand1 and some face toward the horse's head and some toward his tail1 so it is best for you to wait a little for directions1 ,esmeralda1 and not to suppose that1 because you know all about ,lucy ,fountain's way of mounting a horse1 or about ,james ,burdock's tuition of ,mabel ,vane1 there is no other method of putting a lady in the saddle4 ,after your first lesson1 you will find it well to practise springing upward from the right foot1 holding your left on a hassock1 or a chair rung1 your right hand raised as if grasping the pommel1 your shoulders carefully kept back1 and your body straight4 ,it is best to perform this exercise before a mirror1 and when you begin to think you have mastered it1 close you eyes1 give ten upward springs and then look at yourself4 ,a hopeless wreck1 eh8 ,not quite so bad as that1 but1 before1 you unconsciously corrected your position by the eye1 and you must learn to do it entirely by feeling4 ,you will probably improve very much on a second trial1 because your shoulders will begin to be sensitive4 ,why not practise this exercise before your first lesson8 ,because you should know just how your master prefers to stand1 in order to be able to imagine him standing as he really will4 ,it is not unusual to see riders of some experience puzzled and made awkward by an innovation on what they have regarded as the true and only method of mounting1 although1 when once the right leg and wrist are properly trained1 a woman ought to be able to reach the saddle without caring what her escort's method of assistance4 ,mounting from a high horseblock is a matter of being fairly lifted into the saddle1 and you cannot possibly do it improperly4 it is easy1 but it gives you no training for rides outside the school1 and masters use it1 not because they approve of it1 but because their pupils1 not knowing how easy it is to mount from the ground1 often desire it4 ,but1 being in the saddle1 turn so as to face your horse's head1 put our right knee over the pommel1 and slip your left foot into the stirrup4 ,then rise on your left foot and smooth your skirt1 a task in which your master will assist you1 and take you reins and your whip from him4 ,how shall you hold your reins8 ,as your master tells you6 ,probably1 he will give you but one rein at first1 and very likely will direct you to hold it in both hands1 keeping them five or six inches apart1 the wrists on a level with the elbows or even a very little lower1 and he is not likely to insist on any other details1 knowing that it will be difficult for you to attain perfection in these4 ,an ,english master might give you a single rein to be passed outside the little finger1 and between the forefinger and the middle finger1 the loop coming between the forefinger and thumb1 and being held in place by the thumb4 ,then he would expect you to keep your right shoulder back very firmly1 but a ,french master will tell you that it is better to learn to keep the shoulder back a little while holding a rein in the right hand1 and an ,american master will usually allow you to take your choice1 but1 until you have experience1 obey orders in silence4 ,and now1 having taken your whip1 draw yourself back in your saddle so as to feel the pommel under your right knee2 sit well towards the right1 square your shoulders1 force your elbows well down1 hollow your waist a little1 and start4 ,he won't go8 ,of course he will not1 until bidden to do so1 if he know his business4 ,bend forward the least bit in the world1 draw very slightly on the reins1 and rather harder on the right1 so as to turn him from the stand1 and away he walks1 and you are in the ring4 ,you had no idea that it was so large1 and you feel as if lost on a western prairie1 but you are in no danger whatsoever4 ,you cannot fall off while your right knee and left foot are in place1 and if you deliberately threw yourself into the tan1 you would be unhurt1 and the riding-school horse knows better than to tread on anything unusual which he may find in his way4 ,now1 ,esmeralda1 keep your mind--,no1 your saddle is not turning2 it is well girthed4 ,you feel as if it were8 ,pray1 how do you know how you would feel if a saddle were to turn8 ,did you ever try it8 ,and your saddle is not too large6 ,neither is it too small6 ,and there is nothing at all the matter with your horse6 ,now1 ,esmeralda1 keep your mind--,no1 that other girl is not going to ride you down4 ,her horse would not allow her1 if she endeavored to do so4 ,the trouble is that she does not guide her horse1 but is worrying herself about staying on his back1 when she should be thinking about making him turn sharp corners and go straight forward4 ,regard her as a warning1 ,esmeralda1 and keep your mind-- ,what is the matter with the reins8 ,apparently they are oiled1 for they have slipped from under your thumbs1 and your horse is wandering along with drooping head1 looking as if training to play the part of the dead warrior's charger at a military funeral4 ,shorten your reins now1 carefully6 ,not quite so much1 or your horse will think that you intend to begin to trot1 and do not lean backward1 or he will fancy that you wish him to back or stop4 ,the poor thing has to guess at what a pupil wishes1 and no wonder that he sometimes mistakes4 ,but1 ,esmeralda1 keep your mind on those thumbs and hold them close to your forefingers4 ,driving will give no idea of the slipperiness of leather1 but after your first riding lesson you will wonder why it is not used to floor roller-skating rinks4 ,but remember that your reins are for your horse's support1 not for yours2 they are the telegraph wires along which you send dispatches to him1 not parallel bars upon which your weight is to depend4 ,hitherto1 you have not ridden an inch4 ,your horse has strolled about1 and you have not dropped from his back1 and that is not riding1 but now you shall begin4 ,in a large ring1 pupils are required to keep to the wall when walking1 as this gives the horse a certain guide1 but in small rings the rule is to keep to the wall when trotting1 so as to improve every foot of pace1 and to walk about six feet from the wall1 not in a circle1 but describing a rectangle4 ,new pupils are always taught to turn to the right1 and to make all their movements in that direction4 ,hold your thumbs firmly in place1 and draw your right hand a very little upward and inward1 touching your whip lightly to the horse's right side1 and turning your face and leaning your body slightly to the right4 ,the instant that the corner is turned1 drop your hand1 keeping the thumb in place1 square your shoulders1 look straight between your horse's ears1 and then allow your eyes to range upward as far as possible without losing sight of him altogether4 ,no matter what is going on about you4 ,very likely1 the criticizing mamma on the mounting-stand is scolding sharply about noting4 ,possibly1 a dear little boy is fairly flying about the ring on a pony that seems to have cantered out of a fairy tale1 and a marvelously graceful girl1 whom you envy with your whole soul1 is doing pirouettes in the centre of the ring4 ,all that is not your business4 ,your sole concern is to keep your body in position1 and your mind fixed on making your horse obey you1 doing nothing of his own will4 ,stop him now and then by leaning back1 and drawing on the reins1 not with your body but with your hands4 ,then lean forward and go on1 but if he should remain planted as fast as the ,great ,pyramid1 if when started he should refuse to pay any attention to the little taps of your left heel and the touches of your whip1 nay1 if he should lie down and pretend to die1 like a trick horse in a circus1 don't cluck4 ,no good riding master will teach a pupil to cluck or will permit the practice to pass unreproved1 and riding-school horses do not understand it1 and are quite as likely to start at the cluck of a rider on the other side of the ring as they are when a similar noise is made by the person on their own backs4 ,but now1 just as you have shortened your reins for the fortieth time or so1 your master rides up beside you4 ,you told him of your little three-lesson plan1 and being wise in his generation1 he smilingly assented to it4 ,shall we trot8 he asks1 in an agreeable voice4 ,shorten your reins1 now6 ,don't pull on them6 ,right shoulder back6 ,now rise from the saddle as ,i count1 ',one1 two1 three1 four6' ,off we go6' ,you would like to know what he meant by off6 ,off1 indeed6 ,you thought you were off the saddle4 ,you have been bounced up and down mercilessly1 and have gasped1 ,stop him6 before you have been twice around the ring1 and not one corner have you been able to turn properly4 ,as for your elbows1 you know that they have been flying all abroad1 but still--it was fun1 and you would like to try again4 ,you do try again1 and you would like to try again4 ,you do try again1 and1 at last1 you are conscious of a sudden feeling of elasticity1 of sympathy with your horse1 of rising when he does1 and then your master looks at you triumphantly1 and says3 ,you rose that time1 and leaves you to go to some other pupil4 ,and then you walk your horse again1 trying to keep in position1 and you make furtive little essays at trotting by yourself1 and find that you cannot keep your horse to the wall1 although you pull your hardest at his left rein1 the reason being that1 unconsciously1 you also pull at the right rein1 and that he calmly obeys what the reins tell him and goes straight forward4 ,then your master offers to help you by lifting you1 grasping your right arm with his left hand1 and you make one or two more circuits of the ring1 and then the hour is over and you dismount and go to the dressing-room4 ,tired1 ,esmeralda8 ,a little1 and you do wonder whether you shall not be a bruised piece of humanity to-morrow4 ,not if your flesh be as hard as any girl's should be in these days of gymnasiums1 but if you have managed to bruise a muscle or to strain one1 lay a bottle of hot water against it when you go to bed and it will not be painful in the morning4 ,if1 in spite of warnings1 you have been so careless about your underclothing as to cause a blister1 a bit of muslin saturated with ,vaseline1 with a drop of tincture of benzoin rubbed into it1 makes a plaster which will end the smart instantly4 ,this is not a physician's prescription1 but is hat of a horseman who for years led the best riding class in ,boston1 and it is asserted that nobody was ever known to be dissatisfied with its effects4 ,muffle yourself warmly1 ,esmeralda1 and hasten home1 for nothing is easier than to catch cold after riding4 ,air your frock and cloak before an open fire to volatilize the slight ammoniacal scent which they must inevitably contract in the locker1 and then be as good to yourself as the hostler will be to your poor horse4 ,that is to say1 give yourself a sponge bath in hot water1 with a dash of ,sarg's soap and almond meal in it1 rubbing dry with a ,turkish towel1 and then dress and go down to dinner4 ,looking at your glowing face and shining eyes1 your father will tell your mother that she should have gone also1 but when he marks the havoc which you make with the substantial part of the meal1 and sees that your appetite for dessert is twice as good as usual1 he will reflect upon his butcher's and grocer's bills1 and1 considering what they would be with provision to make for two such voracious creatures1 he will say1 ,no1 ,esmeralda1 don't take your mother6 ,,iii4 ,up into the saddle1 ,lithe and light1 vaulting she perched4 ,hayne4 ,and you still think1 ,esmeralda1 that three lessons will be enough to make you a horse woman1 and that by next ,monday you will be able to join the road party1 and witch the world with your accomplishments8 ,very well1 array yourself for conquest and come to the school4 ,talk is cheap1 according to a proverb more common than elegant2 but it is sinful to waste the cheapest of things4 ,while you dress1 you will meditate upon the sensation which it is your intention to make in the ring1 and upon the humiliation which you will heap upon your riding master by showing wonderful ability to rise in the saddle4 ,although not quite ready to assert ability to ride hour after hour like a mounted policeman1 you feel certain that you could ride as gracefully as he1 and perhaps you are right1 for official position does not confer wisdom in equitation4 ,to say nothing of policemen1 it is not many seasons since an ambitious member of the governor's staff presented himself before a riding master to take a lesson1 just to get used to it1 you know2 got to review some regiments at ,framingham tomorrow4 ,and when1 after some trouble1 he had been landed in the saddle1 never a strap had he1 and long before his lesson hour was finished1 he was a spectacle to make a ,prussian sentinel giggle while on duty4 ,and for your further encouragement1 ,esmeralda1 know that it is but a few years ago that a riding master1 in answer to a rebellious pupil who defended some sin against ,baucher with1 ,mr4 --of the governor's staff always does so1 retorted1 ,there is just one man on the governor's staff who can ride1 and ,i taught him2 and if he had ridden like that 6 ,an awful silence expressed so many painful possibilities that the pupil was meek and humble ever after1 and yet it was not written in any newspaper that any of those ignorant colonels were thrown from their saddles in public1 nor did the strapless gentleman furnish amusement to civilian or soldier by rolling on the grass at ,framingham4 ,the truth is1 that the number of persons able to judge of riding is smaller than the number able to ride1 and that number is rather less than one in a hundred of those who appear on horseback either in the ring or on the road2 but ,boston could furnish a legion of men and women who find healthful enjoyment in the saddle1 and who look passably well while doing it1 and possibly you may add yourself to their ranks after a very few lessons1 although there is--,you are ready8 ,come then6 ,into the saddle well thought1 thanks to your master1 but why that ghastly pause8 ,turn instantly1 place your knee over the pommel and thrust your foot into the stirrup1 if you possibly can1 without waiting for assistance4 ,teachers of experience1 riding masters1 dancing masters1 musicians1 artists1 gymnasts1 will unite in telling you that unless a pupil's mental qualities be rather extraordinary1 it is more difficult to impart knowledge at a second lesson than at the first1 simply because the pupil gives less attention1 expecting his muscles to work mechanically4 ,undoubtedly1 after long training1 fingers will play scales1 and flying feet whirl their owner about a ballroom without making him conscious of every muscular extension and contraction1 but this facility comes only to those who1 in the beginning1 fix an undivided mind upon what they are doing1 and who never fall into willful negligence4 ,keep watch of yourself1 manage yourself as assiduously as you watch and manage your horse1 and ten times more assiduously than you would watch your fingers at the piano1 or your feet in the dancing class1 because you must watch for two1 for your horse and for yourself4 ,if you give him an incorrect signal1 he will obey it1 you will be unprepared for his next act1 and in half a minute you will have a very pretty misunderstanding on your hands4 ,but there is no reason for being frightened4 ,you cannot fall1 and if your horse should show any signs of actual misbehavior1 you would find your master at your right hand1 with fingers of steel to grasp your reins1 and a voice accustomed to command obedience from quadrupeds1 howsoever little of it he may be able to obtain at first from well-meaning bipeds4 ,you are perfectly safe with him1 ,esmeralda1 not only because he knows how to ride1 but because the strongest of all human motives1 self-interest1 is enlisted to promote your safety4 ,she said she was afraid to risk her neck1 said an exhausted teacher1 speaking the words of frankness to a spectator1 as a timid and stupid pupil disappeared into the dressing-room1 and ,i told her that she could afford the risk better than ,i4 ,if she broke it1 than don't you know1 it probably could not be mended1 but mine might be broken in trying to save her1 and1 at the best1 my reputation and my means of getting a livelihood would be gone forever in an instant4 ,it's only a neck with her2 it's life and wife and babies that ,i risk1 and ,i'll insure her neck4 ,and when the stupid pupil1 who was a lady in spite of her dulness1 came from the dressing-room1 calmed and quieted1 and began to offer a blushing apology1 he repeated his remarks to her1 and so excellent was the understanding established between them after this little incident that she actually came to be a tolerable rider4 ,feeling that he would tell her to do nothing dangerous to her1 she was ready at his command to lie down on her horse's back and to raise herself again and again1 and1 after doing this a few times1 and bending alternately to the right and to the left1 the saddle seemed quite homelike1 and to remain in it sitting upright was very easy for a few moments4 ,only for a few moments1 however1 for the necessity of paying attention still remained1 as it does with you1 and again she stiffened herself1 as you are doing now4 ,as ,mr4 ,mead very justly says1 in his ,horsemanship for ,women1 a lesson may be learned from a bag of grain set up on horseback1 which is1 that while the lower part of your body should settle itself almost lazily in place1 the upper part1 which is comparatively light1 should sway slightly but easily with the horse's motion4 ,manage to ride behind the girl who was teaching herself to do pirouettes the other day4 ,her horse is walking rapidly1 and you could almost fancy that her prettily squared shoulders were part of him1 so sympathetically do they respond to each step1 but if you should let your horse straggle against hers and frighten him1 you would see that no rock is more firmly seated then she4 ,if it should please your master to require you to perform the bending exercise1 you will feel the advantage of having practiced it at home1 for it is infinitely easier in the saddle than it is on the floor1 and your riding master will be exceedingly pleased at the ease with which you effect it4 ,there is no necessity for telling him that the little feat is quite familiar to you4 ,the woman of sense keeps as many of her doings secret as she can1 and the wise pupil confesses no knowledge except that derived from her master4 ,being1 in spite of his superior knowledge1 a mortal man1 he will take twice the pains with her1 and a hundredfold more pride in her if persuaded that she owes everything to him4 ,there is no reason to worry about a little stiffness during the first lessons4 ,it is almost entirely nervousness1 and will disappear as soon as you are quite comfortable and easy1 but the beautiful flexibility of the good horsewoman comes only to her whose muscles are perfectly trained1 and it is surprising how few muscles there are to which one may not give employment in an hour's practice in the ring4 ,if you like1 you may1 without the assistance of your master1 lean forward to the right side until your left shoulder touches your horse's crest1 and when you are trotting it is well how and then to lean forward and to the right until you can see your horse's forefeet1 but you would better not perform the same exercise on the left side for the present1 for you might overbalance yourself and almost slip from the saddle4 ,if able1 as you should be1 to touch the floor with your fingertips without bending your knees1 this little movement will be nothing to you1 but do not bend to the left1 ,esmeralda4 ,why not8 ,why1 because if you will have the truth1 you are slipping to the left already1 your right shoulder is drooping forward1 and your weight is hanging in your stirrup and pulling your saddle to the left so forcibly that your horse has lost all respect for you1 and would be thoroughly uncomfortable1 were it not that you have forgotten all about your thumbs1 and you have allowed your reins to slip away from you1 so that he is going where he pleases1 except when you jerk him sharply to the right1 and then he shakes and tosses his head and goes on contentedly1 as one saying1 ,all things have an end1 even a new pupil's hour4 ,now1 sit well to the right1 remembering the meal sack2 shorten your reins1 keeping your elbows down and your hands low4 ,shorten them a very little more1 so as to bring your elbows further forward4 ,when you stop1 you should not be compelled to jerk your elbows back of your waist1 but should bring them into line with it1 leaning back slightly1 and drawing yourself upward4 ,stop your horse now1 for practice4 ,do not speak to him during your first lessons1 except by your master's express command1 but address him in his own language1 using your reins1 your foot1 and your whip1 if your master permit4 ,why do you make coquette of your horse8 asked a ,french master of a pretty girl who was coaxingly calling her mount a naughty1 horrid thing1 and casting glances fit to distract a man on the ungrateful creature's irresponsive crest4 ,your horse does not care anything at all about you2 don't you think he does6 pursued he1 ungallantly4 ,you may coax me as much as you like1 said a ,yankee teacher to a young woman who was trying the treat him kindly theory1 and was calling her horse a dear old ducky darling2 and1 he continued1 ,i'm rather fond of candy myself1 but it isn't coaxing or lump sugar that will make that horse go4 ,it's brains and reins and foot and whip4 ,when you have a horse of your own1 talk to him as much as you like1 and teach him your language as an accomplishment1 but address the riding-school horse in his own tongue1 until you have mastered it yourself4 ,now1 adjust yourself carefully1 lean forward1 extend your hands a very little1 touch your horse with your left heel1 and1 as soon as he moves1 sit erect and let your hands resume their position4 ,hasten his steps until he is almost trotting1 before you strike him with the whip4 ,you can do this by very slightly opening and shutting your fingers in time with the slight pull which he gives with his head at every step1 by touches with your heel1 and by touches1 not blows1 with the whip1 and by allowing yourself1 not to rise1 but to sit a little lighter with each step4 ,it is not very easy to do1 and you need not be discouraged if you cannot effect it after many trials4 ,some masters will tell you to strike your horse on the shoulder1 and some will prefer that you should strike him on the flank as a signal for trotting4 ,those who prefer the former will tell you to carry your whip pointing forward2 the others will tell you to carry it pointing backward1 and many masters will say that it makes little difference as long as it is carried gracefully1 and as long as you understand that it takes the place of a leg on the right side of the horse4 ,general ,anderson1 in ,on ,horseback1 lays down the rule that a horse should never be struck on the shoulder1 as it will cause him to swerve1 but use your master's horses in obedience to his orders4 ,now1 then1 one1 two1 three1 four6 ,one1 two1 three1 four6 ,you don't seem to be astonishing anybody very much1 ,esmeralda6 ,again1 one1 two1 three1 four6 ,never mind6 ,sit down and let the horse do the work4 ,keep your left heel down1 and your left knee close to the saddle4 ,not close to the pommel1 understand1 but close to the saddle4 ,try and imagine1 if you like1 that you are carrying a dollar between the knee and the saddle1 after the ,west ,point fashion1 and do not fret overmuch because you are not rising4 ,if you were a cavalryman riding with your troop1 you would not be allowed to rise1 and to sit properly while sitting close is an accomplishment not to be despised4 ,ow6 ,what does that mean8 ,you rose without trying8 ,watch yourself carefully1 and if such a phenomenon should occur again1 try to make it repeat itself by letting yourself down into the saddle1 and then rising again quickly4 ,but keep trotting6 ,count how many times you trot around the ring1 and mentally pledge yourself to increase the number of circuits at your next lesson4 ,and--,cluck6 ,sit down in the saddle1 ,esmeralda6 ,lean back a little1 bring your left knee up against the pommel1 keeping the lower part of the leg close against the saddle2 keep your right knee in place and your right foot and the lower part of your right leg close to the saddled2 guide your horse1 but do not otherwise exert yourself4 ,how do you like it8 ,delightful8 ,yes1 with a good horse it is as delightful as sitting in a rocking-chair1 but1 if you were a rider of experience1 you would not allow your horse to enter upon the gait without permission1 but would bring him back to the trot by slightly pulling first the left rein and then the right1 a movement which is called sawing the mouth4 ,the poor creature is really not in fault4 ,he heard the cluck given by that complacent- looking man1 trotting slowly about1 and not knowing how to use his reins and knees in order to go faster1 and he said to himself3 ,she is tired of trotting and wants a rest2 so do ,i1 and away he went4 ,if you had been trying to rise1 you might have been thrown1 for the greatest danger that you will encounter in the school comes from rising while the horse is at a canter4 ,the cadence of the motion is triple1 instead of in common time like that of the trot1 and you will soon distinguish the difference1 but eschew cantering at first4 ,if you once become addicted to it1 you will never learn to trot1 or even to walk well4 ,having had your little warning against clucking1 perhaps you will now sympathize with the indignant ,englishwoman who1 having been almost unseated by a similar mischance1 responded1 when the clucking cause thereof rode up to say that he was sorry that her horse should behave so3 ,it wasn't the horse that was in fault1 sir2 it was a donkey4 ,but now1 try a round or two more of trotting1 then guide your horse carefully about the ring two or three times1 bring him up to the mounting-stand1 dismount1 and go to the dressing-room4 ,you are rather warm1 but not in the least tired1 and you have had such a good time1 as you enthusiastically explain to everybody who will listen to you1 but as there is much merry chatter going on from behind screens1 and as it is all to the same effect1 nobody pays much attention1 and if you were cross and complaining1 everybody would laugh at you4 ,a riding-school is a place from which every woman issues better contented than she entered1 and there is no sympathy for grumblers4 ,remember to be careful about your wraps1 and that you may be able to ride better next time1 practice these exercises at home3 ,place your knees together and heels together1 adjust your shoulders1 hands1 and arms as if you were in the saddle1 and sit down as far as possible1 while keeping the legs vertical from the knee down4 ,rise1 counting ,one1 sink again1 rise once more at ,two1 and continue through three measures1 common time4 ,rest a minute and repeat until you are a little weary4 ,nothing is gained by doing too much work1 but if you do just enough of this between lessons1 you cannot possibly grow stiff4 ,when you can do it fairly well1 try to do it first on one foot and then on the other1 and then bring your right foot in front of your left knee1 and1 standing on your left foot1 assume1 as nearly as possibly1 the proper position for the saddle1 and try to rise in time4 ,you will not find it very difficult1 and you will be compelled to keep your heel down while doing it1 especially if you put a block about an inch thick under your left tow4 ,you may try doing it while sitting sidewise in a chair1 if it be difficult for you to poise yourself on one foot1 but a girl who cannot stand thus for some time1 long enough to lace her riding boot1 for instance1 is much too weak for her own good4 ,take all your spare minutes for this work1 ,esmeralda4 ,bob up and down in all the secluded corners of the house2 try to feel the motion in the horse-cars--it will not need much effort in many of them4 ,and if you want to be comfortable in a herdic1 sit sidewise and pretend that the seat is a horse4 ,this is ,mr4 ,hurlburt's rule for riding in an ,irish outside car4 ,in short1 while taking your first riding-lessons1 walk1 sit1 and think to the tune of ,one1 two1 three1 four6 ,near the wall1 ,make him trot2 ,you cannot fall6 ,,iv4 ,the ,horse does not attempt to fly2 ,he knows his powers1 and so should ,i4 ,spurgeon4 ,wilful will to water1 eh1 ,esmeralda8 ,you are determined to appear in that riding party after your third lesson1 and you think that you will look no worse than a great many others4 ,undoubtedly1 that is true1 and more's the pity1 but1 since you will go1 let us make the most of the third lesson1 and trust that you will return in a whole piece1 like ,henry ,clay's pie4 ,you do not see why there is any more danger on the road than in the ring1 and you have never been thrown6 ,it would be unkind1 in the face of that never1 to remind you that you have been in the saddle precisely twice1 and1 really1 there is no more danger from your incompetency1 should it manifest itself on the road1 than might arise from its display in the ring1 but with your horse it is another matter4 ,having the whole world before him1 why not1 he will meditate1 speed forth into space1 and escape from the hateful creature who jerks on his head so causelessly1 making him sigh wearily for the days of his unbroken colthood8 ,he would endure it within doors1 because he has noticed that his tormentor gives place to another every hour1 and pain may be borne when it is not monotonous2 but he remembers that there is no limit to the time during which one human being may impel him along an open road1 and he also remembers some very pretty friskings1 delightful to himself1 but disconcerting to his rider1 and he may perform some of them4 ,even if he should1 he would not unseat a rider well accustomed to school work1 but you6 ,you actually rose in the saddle three times in succession1 the other day1 and where were your elbows and where were your feet when you ceased rising1 and long before your steady1 quiet mount understood that you desired him to walk8 ,your master smiles indulgently when you announce that this is your last practice lesson1 and says3 ,very well1 you shall ride ,charlie1 to-day1 at least for a little while1 until some others come in4 ,he himself mounts1 moves off a pace or two1 one of the assistant masters puts you in the saddle1 and before the groom lets ,master ,charlie's head go1 your master says1 easily3 ,leave his reins pretty long1 especially the right one4 ,put your left knee close against the pommel2 don't try to rise until ,i tell you4 ,ready4 ,now4 ,you feel as if you were in a transformation scene at the theatre4 ,the windows of the ring seem to run into one another1 and at very short intervals you catch a glimpse in the mirror of a young woman1 in a familiar looking ,norfolk jacket1 sitting with her elbows as far behind her as if held there by the ,austrian plan of running a broomstick in front of the arms and behind the waist4 ,on and on6 ,you earnestly wish to stop1 but are ashamed to say so4 ,close at your right hand1 pace for pace with you1 rides your master1 keeping up an unbroken fire of brief ejaculation3 ,hands a little lower6 ,arms close to the side6 ,shoulders square6 ,square6 ,draw your right shoulder backward and upward6 ,now down with your right elbow6 ,don't pull o the right rein6 ,don't lift your hands6 ,you'll make him go faster6 ,i like this kind of trot1 you say sweetly4 ,it's easier than the other kind4 ,it isn't a trot2 it's a canter1 says your master1 with a suspicion of dryness in his voice1 but you may make him trot if you like4 ,shorten both reins1 especially the left4 ,whoa1 ,charlie6 ,wait until ,i say ',now1' before you do it6 ,shorten both reins1 especially the left2 that will keep him to the wall1 ,then extend your left arm a little1 and draw back your right2 draw back your left and extend your right1 and repeat until he comes down to a trot4 ,that saws his mouth1 and gives him something besides scampering to occupy his mind4 ,now we will start up again at a canter4 ,lengthen your reins1 but remember to shorten them when you want to trot4 ,shall ,i tell you before hand1 so that you may have time to make your horse trot1 too8 you ask4 ,esmeralda1 you must have been reading one of those sweet books on etiquette which advise the horsewoman to be considerate of her companions4 ,how much notice do you think your master requires to make his horse trot8 ,you will blush over the memory of that question next year1 although now you feel that you have been very ladylike1 even very ,christian1 in putting it1 for have you not shown that your temper is unruffled and that you are thinking how to make others happy8 ,your master answers that his horse may be trusted1 and that if you prefer to take your own time to change from the canter to the trot1 rather than to wait for him to say1 ,now1 you may do so4 ,and the canter begins again1 and1 after a round or two1 you try the mouth-sawing process1 doing it very well1 for it is an ugly little trick at best1 rarely found necessary by an accomplished rider1 and beginners seldom fail to succeed in it at the very first attempt4 ,if it were pretty and graceful1 it would be more difficult4 ,down to the trot comes the obedient ,charles1 and up you go one1 two1 three1 four6 ,and down you come1 until you really expect to find yourself and the saddle in the tan between the two halves of your horse4 ,of what can the creature's spinal column be made1 to bear such a succession of blows6 ,you begin by pitying the horse1 but after about half a circuit1 you think that human beings have their little troubles also1 and you feel a suspicion of sarcasm in your master's gentle3 ,you need not do ,french trot any longer1 unless you like4 ,it will be easier for you to rise4 ,you give a frantic hop in your stirrup at the wrong minute1 and begin a series of jumps in which you and the horse rise on alternate beats1 by which means your saddle receives twice as much pounding as at first1 and then you have breath enough left to gasp ,stop1 and in a second you are walking along quietly1 and your master is saying in a matter-of-fact way3 ,you would better keep your left heel down all the time1 and turn the toe toward the horse's side and keep your right foot and leg close to the saddle below the knee2 swing yourself up and down as a man does2 don't drop like a lump of lead4 ,like a snowflake1 you murmur1 for you fancy that you have a pretty wit like ,will ,honeycomb4 ,not at all1 says your master4 ,the snowflake comes down because it must1 and comes to stay4 ,you come because you choose1 and come down to rise again instantly4 ,you must keep your right shoulder back1 and your hands on a level with your elbows1 and you must turn the corners1 not let your horse turn them as he pleases-- but more pupils are coming now and ,i must give you another horse4 ,you may have ,billy ,buttons4 ,the change is effected1 the other pupils begin their lessons1 and you and ,billy walk deliberately about in the centre of the ring4 ,at first he keeps moderately near the wall1 but after a time you find that the circle described by his footsteps has grown smaller1 and that he apparently fancies himself walking around a rather small tree4 ,your master rides up as you are pulling and jerking your left rein in the endeavor to come nearer to the wall1 and says1 ,try ,billy's canter4 ,i'll take a round with you4 ,strike him on the shoulder1 and when you want him to trot1 shorten your reins and touch him on the flank4 ,those are the signals which he minds best4 ,now6 ,canter4 ,you remember having heard of a canter like a rocking-chair4 ,charlie had it1 but you were too inexperienced to know it1 but bad riders long ago deprived ,billy of any likeness to a rocking- chair4 ,he knows that if he should let himself go freely1 you would come near to making him rear by pulling on the reins1 and so he goes along one1 two1 three1 one1 two1 three1 deliberately1 and you feel and look1 as you hear an unsympathetic gazer in the gallery remark1 like a pea in a hot skillet4 ,you prided yourself on keeping your temper unruffled under the wise criticism of your master1 but in truth you did not really believe him4 ,you said to yourself that he was too particular1 and you even thought of informing him that he must not expect perfection immediately1 but this piece of impudence1 spoken by a person who1 for aught that you can tell1 does not know ,billy from a clotheshorse1 convinces you instantly1 and you decide to canter no more1 but to trot1 and so you shorten your reins and strike him on the flank4 ,as you shorten the right rein more than the left1 and as your whip falls as lightly as if you meant the blow for yourself1 ,billy goes to the centre of the ring1 but you jerk him to the wall1 and in time1 trot he does4 ,but your left foot swings now forward and now outward1 and you cannot rise4 ,the regular1 pulsating count by which a clever girl is moving like a machine1 irritates you1 and you tell another beginner1 ,they really ought to let us rise on alternate bats at first1 until we are more accustomed to the motion1 and she agrees with you1 and both of you try this1 which might be called trotting on the ,american pupil plan1 but even the calm ,billy manages to take about six steps between what you regard as the alternate beats1 and at last breaks into a canter1 and you hear yourself ordered1 very peremptorily1 to sit down4 ,you obey1 but begin the pea in the skillet performance again1 and at last you tell your master that you will not try to trot anymore1 but would like to know all about managing the reins4 ,and then1 you say1 looking as wise as the three ,gothamites of the nursery song1 even if ,i should not be able to trot long1 and should fall behind my friends on the road1 ,i shall have perfect control of my horse1 and can walk on until they miss me and turn back for me4 ,will you please tell me all the ways of holding the reins8 ,your master does not laugh2 the joke is too venerable1 and he feels awe-struck as he hears it1 so ancient does it seem4 ,if you take your reins in one hand1 he says1 an easy way is to hold the snaffle on your ring finger1 and the left curb outside the little finger1 with the right curb between the middle and fore fingers4 ,then1 when you want to use both hands1 put your right little finger and ring finger between the right curb and right snaffle1 and hold your hands at exactly even distances from your horse's head1 with the two reins firmly nipped by the thumbs resting on top of the fore-fingers4 ,this is the way recommended in the ,encyclopaedia ,britannica1 in ,colonel ,dodge's ',patroclus and ,penelope1' and you will see it in many very good hunting pictures4 ,colonel ,anderson1 in his ',on ,horseback1' recommends dividing the curb reins by the little finger of the left hand and the snaffle reins by the middle finger1 carrying the ends up through the hand1 and holding them by the thumb4 ,mr4 ,mead1 in his ',horsemanship for ,women1' mentions this hold1 but prefers taking the curb on the ring finger1 and the snaffle outside the little finger1 and between the forefinger and middle finger4 ,this hold is used in the ,british army1 and it is convenient in school1 because if it be desirable to drop the curb in order to ride with the snaffle only1 you can do it by dropping your ring finger1 and1 if your horse be moderately quiet1 you can knot the curb rein and let it lie on his neck4 ,besides1 it makes the snaffle a little tighter than the curb1 and that is held to be a good thing in ,england4 ,an ,english soldier is prone to accuse ,american cavalrymen of riding too much on the curb1 and by the way1 ,i have heard ,english soldiers assert that they were taught the second method1 but it was a riding master formerly in the ,queen's service who told me that the third was preferred4 ,m4 de ,bussigny1 in his little ',handbook for ,horsewomen1' gives the preference to crossing the reins1 the curb coming outside the little finger and between the ring and middle finger1 and the snaffle between the little and ring fingers and the middle finger and forefinger4 ,i hold my won in that way when training a horse1 but it is better for you to use both hands on the reins1 and he would tell you so4 ,you are more likely to sit square2 it gives you twice the hold1 and then1 too1 you know where your right hand is1 and are not waving it about in the air1 or devising queer ways of holding your whip4 ,now your hour is over1 and ,i will take you off your horse4 ,wait until he is perfectly still1 and the groom has him by the head4 ,now drop your reins2 let me take off the foot straps2 take your foot out of the stirrup2 turn in the saddle2 put one hand on my shoulder and one on my elbow1 and slip down as lightly as you can4 ,you glance at the clock1 perceive that you have been ,i the saddle almost an hour and a half1 and murmur an apology4 ,don't mind1 is the encouraging answer4 ,as long as a pupil does not complain and call us stingy when we make her dismount1 we do not say much4 ,but are you really going on the road1 ,monday1 ,miss ,esmeralda8 ,yes1 ,i am1 you answer4 ,ah1 well1 he says1 a little regretfully1 don't forget1 then4 ,hold on with your right knee and sit down for the canter4 ,what shall you do by way of exercise before ,monday8 ,practise all the old movements1 a little of each one at a time1 and take two lengths of ribbon as wide as an ordinary rein1 or1 better still1 two leather straps1 and fasten one to the knobs on the two sides of a door and run the other through the keyhole4 ,call the knob straps the snaffle reins1 and the keyhole straps the curb1 and1 sitting near enough to let them lie in your lap1 practice picking them up and adjusting them with your eyes shut4 ,when you can do it quickly and neatly1 try and see with how little exertion you can sway the door to left and right1 and then practice holding these dummy reins while standing on one foot and executing the movement used in trotting4 ,if the door move by a hair's breadth1 it will show you that you are pulling too much1 and you must remember that your hold on your horse's mouth gives you greater leverage than you have on the door1 and then1 perhaps1 you will pity the poor beast a little now and then4 ,what is that8 ,your master treated you as if you were an ignorant girl8 ,so you are1 dear1 and even if you were not1 if you knew all that there is in all the books1 you might still be a bad horsewoman1 because you might now know enough to use your knowledge4 ,you don't care1 and you feel very well1 and are very glad that you went8 ,of course1 that is the invariable cry6 ,and you mean to take some more lessons if you find that you really need them8 ,then leave your skirt in the dressing-room locker6 ,you will come back from your ride a wiser1 but not a sadder1 girl4 ,one cannot be sad on horseback4 ,v4 --,pad1 pad1 pad6 ,like a thing that was mad1 ,my chestnut broke away4 ,thornbury4 ,esmeralda was puzzled when she returned from her first riding party4 ,in the morning1 looking very pretty in her borrowed riding habit1 her ,english hat with the hunting guard made necessary by the ,back ,bay breezes1 her brown gauntlets1 and the one scarlet carnation in her button-hole1 she drove to the riding-school1 where she had agreed to meet ,theodore and her other friends1 not like ,mrs4 ,gilpin1 lest all should say that she was proud1 but because her master had promised to lend her one of the school horses1 to put her ion the saddle and to adjust her stirrup1 and because she secretly felt that she would better give herself every possible advantage in what1 as it came nearer1 assumed the aspect of a trial rather than a pleasure4 ,beholding ,ronald1 the promised horse1 severely correct in his road saddle1 and looking immensely tall as he stood on the stable floor1 she inly applauded her own wisdom1 strongly doubting that ,theodore's unpractised arm would have tossed her into her place as lightly as the master's1 and she was secretly overjoyed when the master himself mounted and joined the party with her1 making its number nine2 ,esmeralda herself1 the graduate of three lessons2 ,theodore1 all his life accustomed to ride anything calling itself a horse1 but making no pretenses to mastery of the equestrian science2 the lawyer1 understood1 on his own authority1 to be well informed in everything2 the society young lady1 erect1 precise1 self-satisfied2 the ,texan1 riding with apparent laziness1 his hands rather high and seldom quiet1 but not to be shaken from his seat2 the beauty1 languid and secretly discontented because her horse was intended for a brunette1 and a ridiculous mount for a blonde2 ,versatilia1 who had taken up riding a little1 and the cavalryman1 calm1 quiet1 and fraternally regarded by the master1 as he reviewed the little flock from the back of a horse which had been offered to him as the paragon of its species1 and for which and its kind1 as he announced after riding a square or two1 he was not paying a cent a carload4 ,it is a lovely horse1 said the beauty4 ,it is such a beautiful color4 ,but men never care for color4 ,good color is a good thing1 undoubtedly1 said the master1 but a beautiful horse is a good horse1 not necessarily an animal which would look well in a painted landscape1 because its color would harmonize with the hue of the trees4 ,she is a beautiful girl1 isn't she1 said ,esmeralda1 looking admiringly at the beauty1 who1 having just remembered ,tennyson's line about swaying the rein with flying finger tips1 was executing some movements which made her horse raise his ears to listen for the cause of such conduct1 and then shake his head in mild disapproval4 ,what do ,i care for a pretty girl8 demanded the master4 ,pretty rider is what ,i want to see1 and 'pretty rider' is 'good rider4' ,wait until that girl trots three minutes or so1 and see whether or not she is pretty4 ,the party went through the streets at a rapid walk1 now and then meeting a horse-car1 now and then a stray wagon1 but invariably allowed to take its own way1 with very little regard for the rule of the road4 ,the ,american who drives1 whatever may be his social station1 admires the courage of the woman who rides1 but he is firmly convinced that she does not understand horses1 and gives her all the space available wherein to disport herself4 ,are we all right in placing the ladies on the left8 asked ,theodore1 turning to the master4 ,of course1 cried the lawyer4 ,we follow the ,english rule1 and the left was the place of safety for the lady in the days when ,english equestrianism was born4 ,travelers took the left of the road1 and this placed the cavalier between his lady and any possible danger4 ,and in the ,united ,states they take the right1 and she is between him and any possible danger1 said the master4 ,it is the custom1 but it seems illogical and foolish4 ,true1 it removes any danger that the lady may be crushed between her own horse and her escort's1 but who protects her from any passing car or carriage1 and in case of a runaway what can her escort1 his left hand occupied with his own reins1 do to aid her with hers1 or to disentangle her foot from the stirrup or her habit from the pommels in case she is thrown8 ,can he snatch her from the saddle1 after the matter of one of ,joaquin ,miller's young men8 ,the truth is that since the rule of the road is 'keep to the right1' the rule of the saddle should be 'sit on the right1' but with a lady on his bridle hand the horseman could not be at his best as an escort1 even then4 ,it is one of the many little absurdities in ,american customs2 the old story of the survival of the two buttons at the back of the coat1 and1 by the way1 ,miss ,esmeralda1 the two buttons on the back of your habit are out of place1 not because of your tailor's fault1 but because of yours4 ,they should make a line at right angles with your horse's spinal column4 ,draw yourself back a little1 until you can feel the pommel under your right knee4 ',draw' yourself back2 don't lean1 but keep yourself perfectly erect1 your back perpendicular to your horse's4 ,sit a little to the left2 lean a little to the right4 ,let your left shoulder go forward a little1 your right shoulder backward4 ,now you are exactly right4 ,try to remember your sensations at this minute1 in order to be able to reproduce them4 ,when ,i say ',careful1' pass yourself in review and endeavor to feel where you are wrong4 ,but1 addressing the cavalryman1 who was in advance with ,versatilia1 is this procession a funeral8 ,not exactly1 said the cavalryman1 and the1 after a backward glance1 he cried1 in the fashion of a military riding-school master3 ,pr-r-re-pare to tr-r-r-ot--,trot6 ,esmeralda remembered to shorten her reins1 and resigned herself to the ,fates1 who were propitious1 enabling her to catch the cadence of the trot1 and to rise to it during the few seconds before the cavalryman slackened rein4 ,careful1 said the master1 and she shook herself into place1 eliciting a hearty ,good6 from him4 ,look at your pretty girl1 he growled softly1 but savagely1 and truly the beauty solicited attention4 ,slipping to the left in her saddle1 one elbow pointing toward ,cambridgeport and the other toward ,dorchester1 her right foot visible through her habit1 and her left all but out of the stirrup1 she was attractive no longer1 and to complete the master's disgust she ejaculated3 ,my hair is coming down6 ,better bring a nurse and a ladies' maid for her1 he muttered to ,esmeralda1 confidentially4 ,hairpins in your saddle pocket8 ,well1 you are a sensible girl1 and he rode forward with the little packet1 giving it to the lawyer to pass to the unfortunate young woman4 ,but here arose a little difficulty4 ,the space between the lawyer's horse and the beauty's as they stood was too wide to allow him to lay the parcel in her outstretched fingers4 ,the ,texan1 on her right hand1 had enough to do to keep her horse and his own absolutely motionless that she might not be thrown by any unexpected motion of either animal4 ,versatilia exclaimed in remonstrance1 ,don't leave me1 when the cavalryman said1 ,wait a second1 ,i'll come and give them to her2 the master sat quiet and smiling4 ,why don't you dismount and give them to her8 cried ,theodore1 and was out of his saddle1 had placed the parcel in her hand1 and was back in his place again before either of the other three men could speak4 ,very well done1 said the master1 approvingly1 but not the right thing to do4 ,never leave your saddle without good cause1 and never leave your horse loose for a moment4 ,yes1 ,i saw that you retained your hold of the reins2 ,i was talking at ,miss ,esmeralda4 ,why didn't you make your horse step sideways8 he asked the lawyer4 ,i can't4 ,he won't4 ,see there6 ,sundry pulls1 precisely like those which he might have used had he intended the horse to turn1 a pair of absolutely motionless legs1 and an unused whip were accepted as evidence that the lawyer's ,i can't was perfectly true1 and the master and the cavalryman exchanged comprehending glances as the latter said3 ,well1 don't mind4 ,an eminent authority announced after the ,boston horse show of #ahhi that high-school airs were of no use on the road4 ,to make a horse move a step sideways is the veriest little zephyr of an air1 but it would have been of some use to you1 then4 ,are we ready now8 ,what's that8 ,dropped your whip8 ,up went the ,texan's left heel1 catching cleverly on the saddle as he dropped lightly to the right1 after the fashion of the ,arab1 the ,moor1 the ,apache1 of all the nations which ride for speed and for fighting rather than for leaping and hunting1 and he caught the whip from the ground and was back in his place in a twinkling4 ,the ladies were unmoved1 because inappreciative2 the lawyer looked savagely envious1 the cavalryman and the master approving1 and ,theodore1 frankly admiring1 but no one said anything1 the little cavalcade rearranged itself1 and once more moved on at a footpace until an electric car appeared4 ,ronald is like a rock1 said the master1 and you need not be afraid1 but ,i'll take this beast along in advance4 ,he will shy1 or do some outrageous thing1 and he has a mouth as sensitive as the ,mississippi's1 and no more4 ,the beast did indeed sidle and fret and prance1 and manifest a disposition to hasten to drown himself in the reservoir1 beyond the reach of self-propelling vehicles1 and he repeated the performance a the sight of two other cars1 although evidently less alarmed than at first1 but the fourth car was in charge of a kindly-disposed driver1 who came to a dead stop1 out of pure amiability4 ,this was too much for the beast to endure2 a moving house he was beginning to regard as tolerable1 but a house which stopped short and glared at him with all its windows was more than horse nature could endure1 and he started for the next county to institute an inquiry as to whether such actions were to be allowed1 but found himself forced to stop1 and not altogether comfortable1 while the master cried good-naturedly3 ,go along and take care of your car4 ,i'll take care of my horse6 ,more than some other folks can do1 said the driver1 with a quiet grin at the lawyer1 whose angry1 ,here1 what are you doing6 shouted to his plunging steed1 had brought all the women in the car to the front1 to explain to one another that that man was abusing his horse1 poor thing4 ,the car glided off1 and ,versatilia turned to look at it2 her horse stumbled slightly1 jerking her wrists sharply1 and but for the cavalryman's quick shifting of the reins to his right hand and his strong grasp of her reins with his left1 she might have been in danger4 ,never look back1 lectured the master4 ,esmeralda was his pupil1 and he would have taken the whole centennial quadrille and all the cabinet ladies to point his moral1 had he seen them making equestrian blunders4 ,where your horse has been1 where1 he is1 is the past4 ,look to the future1 straight before you4 ,the cavalryman looked back just now1 ,esmeralda ventured to say4 ,yes1 but he turned his horse very slightly to do it1 and he may do almost anything because he has a perfect seat1 and is a good horseman4 ,suppose ,i hear something or somebody coming up behind me8 ,if it have any intelligence1 it will not hurt you4 ,if it have none1 looking will do you no good4 ,turn out to the right as far as you can and look to the front harder than ever1 so as to be ready to guide your horse and to avoid any obstacles in case he should start to run4 ,what is the trouble with the ladies now8 ,o1 dear6 cried the beauty to the society young lady1 your horse4 ,what's the matter with him8 asked the other1 still very stately and not turning4 ,oh6 ,the dreadful creature has caught his tail on my horse's bit1 said the beauty4 ,then you'd better take your horse's bit away1 retorted the other4 ,my horse's eyes are not at that end of him1 and he can't be expected to look at his tail4 ,and you may be kicked1 added the ,texan4 ,check him a little2 there6 ,we ought not to be so close together1 and we ought to be moving a little1 ,i think4 ,shall we trot again8 ,everybody assented1 the cavalryman and ,versatilia set off1 the others followed as best they might1 the beauty going to pieces in a minute or two1 according to the master1 the society young lady stiffening visibly1 losing the cadence of the trot very soon1 but making no outcry as she was tossed about uncomfortably1 and not bending her head to look at her reins1 as ,versatilia did4 ,there's the advantage of training in other things1 said the master4 ,she's a good dancer and a good amateur actress1 and she is controlling herself as she would on a ballroom floor1 and remembering the spectators as she would on the stage4 ,she's no rider1 but is perfectly selfish and self-possessed1 and she will cheat her escort into thinking that she is one4 ,glad she's no pupil of mine1 however6 ,she always heads the conversation1 one of her friends told me the other day4 ,that is to say1 she is always acting4 ,i can't teach such a person anything2 nobody can4 ,she can teach herself1 as she can think of herself and love herself1 but she can't go outside of herself--and the lawyer will find it out after he has married her4 ,esmeralda and ,theodore stared in astonishment4 ,walk1 said the master1 noticing that his pupil looked too warm for comfort1 and the three allowed the others to go on without them4 ,careful1 he added1 and ,esmeralda1 adjusting herself studiously1 asked3 ,is it really easier to ride on the road than it is in the school8 ,it seems so4 ,it is a little1 especially if the corners of the ring are so near together that the horse goes in a circle1 for then the rider has to lean to the right1 while on the road she may sit straight4 ,give me the right kind of horse for my pupil to ride1 and ,i would as leif give lessons on the road as anywhere1 but it is not well for the pupil1 whose attention is distracted by a thousand things1 and who learns less in a year than she would in a month in school4 ,there is no finish about the riding of a woman so taught4 ,she may be pretty1 as you said of one of your friends1 she may be self-possessed1 like the other1 but she will betray her ignorance every moment4 ,you were surprised just now at what ,i said of the society young lady4 ,a woman can't cheat an old riding-master1 after he has seen her in the saddle4 ,he knows her and her little ways by heart4 ,shall we start up8 ,ah6 ,ronald1 the steady as a rock1 was off and away at a canter2 ,theodore was starting to gallop in pursuit1 but was sharply ordered back by the master1 who went on himself at a rather slow canter1 ready to break into a gallop if his pupil were thrown1 but keeping out of ,ronald's hearing1 lest he should be further startled by finding himself followed4 ,there was a clear stretch of road before her1 and ,esmeralda sat down as firmly as possible1 brought her left knee up against the pommel1 clung firmly with her right knee1 held her hands low and her thumbs as firm as possible1 and thought very hard4 ,very soon1 she said to herself1 ,i shall be thrown and dragged1 and hat a figure ,i shall be going home1 if ,i'1 not killed6 ,but ,i sha'n't be6 ,i shall be ridiculous1 and that's worse4 ,here she swept by the riding party1 but as ,versatilia and the beauty turned to look at her1 and forgot to control their horses1 the cavalryman and the ,texan had to do it for them1 and could do nothing for ,esmeralda except to shout ,whoa1 which ,ronald very properly disregarded4 ,the master came up1 and the society young lady addressed him with1 ,very silly of her to try to exhibit herself so1 isn't it8 ,that's no exhibition2 that's a runaway1 said the master grimly4 ,she's doing well too1 poor girl1 and he and ,theodore went on after the flying rider4 ,two or three carriages1 the riders staring with horror2 a pedestrian or two1 innocently wondering why a lady should be on the road alone2 a small boy whistling shrilly2 these were all the spectators of ,esmeralda's flight4 ,she felt desolate and deserted1 and yet sure that it was best that she should be alone1 since the master could overtake her if he would1 and she wondered if she should be very seriously injured when thrown at last1 but all the time she was talking to ,ronald in a voice carefully kept at a low pitch1 and her hands were held with a steadiness utterly new to them1 and the good horse went on regularly1 but faster and faster4 ,that isn't a real runaway1 said the master to himself4 ,ah1 ,i see6 ,her whip is down and strikes him at every stride1 and so she unconsciously urges him forward4 ,if there were a side road here1 ,i'd gallop around and meet her1 or if there were fields on either side1 ,i'd leap the fence and make a circuit and cut her off1 but through this place1 with banks like a railway cutting on each side1 there is nothing to do4 ,swifter and swifter6 ,esmeralda began to feel weaker1 thought of ,theodore1 and of some other things of which she never told even him1 said a little prayer1 but all the time remembered her master's injunctions1 and kept her place firmly1 waiting for the final1 and1 as she believed1 inevitable crash1 when lo6 ,she saw that just in front of her lay a long piece of half-mended road1 full of ugly little stones1 and she turned ,ronald on it1 with a triumphant1 ,see how you like that1 sir1 and then sawed his mouth4 ,in half a minute he was walking4 ,in another the master was beside her with words of approval4 ,theodore galloped up1 pale and anxious1 and between the two she had quite as much praise as was good for her1 and1 being told of the position of the whip1 found her confidence in ,ronald restored4 ,but you should never start up hastily1 said the master4 ,take time for everything1 and check your horse the instant he goes faster than you mean to have him4 ,you are a good girl1 and you shall not be scolded1 or snubbed1 either1 he muttered1 and the party came up1 the cavalryman and the ,texan loud in praise1 the other four clamorous with questions and advice4 ,you look quite disheveled1 said the society young lady agreeably4 ,ladies often do after they have been on the road a little while4 ,excuse me1 but one of your skirt buttons is unfastened1 said the master1 and1 not knowing how to pass her reins into her right hand so as to use her left to repair the accident1 the society young lady was effectually silenced1 while the master1 holding ,esmeralda's horse1 made her wipe her face1 arrange the curly locks flying about her ears1 readjust her hat1 and generally smooth her plumage1 until she was once more comfortable4 ,after a little1 the master proposed a trot up the hill1 and instructed ,esmeralda to lean forward as her horse climbed upward1 ,if you should have to trot down hill1 lean back a little1 and keep your reins short1 he said4 ,the lawyer and the society young lady1 essaying to descend the next hill brilliantly1 barely escaped going over their horses' heads1 and all four ladies were glad when they perceived that they were going homeward4 ,i like it1 ,esmeralda said to the master1 but ,i wish ,i knew more1 and ,i'm going to learn1 and ,i see now that three lessons isn't enough1 even for a beginning4 ,i knew a girl who took seventeen lessons and then was thrown1 said the society young lady4 ,native ability is better than teaching4 ,i don't believe any master could make a rider of you1 ,esmeralda4 ,a good teacher can make a rider out of anyone who will study1 said the master1 to whom she looked for approval4 ,as for seventeen lessons1 they are better than seven1 of course1 but they are not much1 after all4 ,how many dancing lessons1 music lessons1 elocution lessons have you taken8 ,more than seventeen8 ,i thought so4 ,here's a railroad bridge1 but no train coming4 ,had one been approaching1 and had there been no chance to cross it before it came1 ,i should have made you turn ,ronald the other way1 ,miss ,esmeralda1 so that if he ran he would run out of what he thinks is danger1 and not into it4 ,and now for an easy little trot home4 ,an easy little trot it was1 and ,esmeralda1 left at her own door1 where a groom waited to take her horse to the stable1 was happy1 but puzzled4 ,theodore1 she cried1 as soon as he appeared in the evening1 did you ask the master to go with us8 ,he treated me just as he does in school4 ,yes1 ,i did1 said ,theodore boldly4 ,i was afraid to take charge of you alone4 ,that was a 'road lesson4' ,you--you--exasperating thing6 cried ,esmeralda4 ,but then1 you were sensible4 ,that's tautology1 said ,theodore4 ,,vi4 ,a solitary horseman might have been seen4 ,g4,p4,r4 ,james4 ,and so you are feeling very meek after your road lesson and your runaway1 ,esmeralda1 and are a perfect ,uriah ,heep for 'umbleness1 and are1 henceforth and forever1 going to believe every syllable that your master utters1 and to obey every command the instant that it is given1 and--there1 that will do6 ,and you are going to take one private lesson so as to learn a few little things before you display your progress before any other pupils again8 ,one private lesson6 ,did your master advise it8 ,no-no1 but he consented to give it1 when you had persuaded him that it would be best for you8 ,when you had persuaded him8 ,behold the ,american pupil's definition of obedience3 to follow commands dictated by herself6 ,however1 there is no use in trying to eradicate the ideas bequeathed and fostered by a hundred years of national self-government1 so go to the school at the hour when no other pupils are expected4 ,the horses pace very solemnly around the great ring1 and you adjust yourself with wonderful dignity1 feeling that your master must perceive by your improved carriage and by the general perfection of your aspect that your exquisite timidity and charming shyness have been responsible for your awkwardness in former lessons1 when other pupils were present1 but now he leaves your side and takes a position in the centre of the ring1 whence he addresses you thus3 ,keep your reins even6 ,the right ones are too short1 the left too long6 ,stop him6 ,that is not stopping him6 ,he took two steps forward after he checked himself4 ,go forward1 and try again when ,i tell you4 ,stop6 ,not so hard1 not so hard6 ,you are making him back6 ,extend your arms forward6 ,there6 ,a little more1 and you would have made him rear6 ,whoa6 ,wo-ho6 ,now listen6 ,not so6 ,don't drop your reins in that way1 and sit so carelessly that a start would throw you from your place6 ,never leave your horse to himself a second6 ,sit as well as you can1 look between your horse's ears and listen6 ,always use some discretion in choosing your place to stop4 ,do not try to stop when turning a corner1 even to avoid danger1 but rather change your direction4 ,in the ring1 never stop on the track1 unless in obedience to your masters order1 but turn out into the centre1 but when you have once told your horse to stop1 make him do it1 for his sake1 as well as for your own1 if you have to spend an hour in the effort4 ,and it will be an hour well spent1 so that you need not lose patient1 and if you do lose it1 do not allow your horse to perceive it4 ,to stop1 you should press your leg and your whip against your horse's sides2 lift your hands a very little1 and turn them in toward your body1 lean back and draw yourself up4 ,there are six things to do3 two to your horse1 one on each side of him1 two with your hands and two with your body1 and you must do them almost simultaneously4 ,unless you do the first two1 your horse will surely take a forward step or two after stopping1 in order to bring himself into a comfortable position4 ,if you do not cease doing the last four the moment that your horse has stopped1 he may rear or he may back several steps1 and he should never do that1 but should await an order for each step4 ,now1 do you remember the six things8 ,very well6 ,go forward6 ,stop6 ,did ,i tell you to do anything with your arms8 ,no ,well1 why did you bring your elbows back of your waist1 then8 ,it is allowable to do that --to save your life1 but not to stop your horse4 ,bend your hands at the wrist1 turning the knuckles1 if need be1 until they are at right angles with their ordinary position1 so that the back of your hand is toward your horse's ears1 but keep the thumb uppermost all the time4 ,now1 think it over a moment6 ,go forward6 ,stop6 ,pretty well6 ,go on6 ,don't lean forward too much when you start1 and sit up again instantly4 ,now walk around the school once1 and go into all the corners4 ,stop6 ,you stopped pretty well1 but you leaned back too far1 and you did not draw yourself up at all4 ,mind1 you draw 'yourself' up2 you don't try to pull the bit up through the corners of your horse's mouth4 ,what ,i wanted to say was that a turn is just half a stop as far as your hands1 leg and whip are concerned4 ,to turn to the right1 use your right hand and whip1 but keep your left leg and hand steady2 to turn to the left1 use your left leg and hand and keep your whip and whip hand steady4 ,when you turn to the right1 lean to the right instead of backward2 'lean1' not twist to the right1 and turn your head to the right so as to see what may be there4 ,if you were on the road1 and did not turn your head before going down a side street1 you might knock over a bicycle rider1 and thereby hurt your horse1 which would be a pity1 he says1 with apparent indifference as to the bicycle rider's possible injuries4 ,now go around the school again4 ,left shoulder forward6 ,right shoulder back6 ,sit to the right6 ,lean to the left6 ,i told you to sit to the left1 the other day8 ,and that is the reason that ,i have told you to sit to the right to-day4 ,you over-do it4 ,miss ,esmeralda1 if ,i were talking for my own pleasure1 ,i should say pretty things to you1 but ,i am talking to teach you1 and when ,i say ',this is wrong6 ,this is wrong6' and again ',this is wrong6' ,i do it for you1 not for myself4 ,when your father and mother say ',this is wrong2 you must not do it1 or you will be sorry1' you do not look at them as if you thought them to be unreasonable--or1 ,i trust that you do not1 he adds1 mentally4 ,heaven only knows what an ,american girl may do when anybody says1 ',you must not' to her4 ,now1 he goes on aloud1 it is the same with your teacher2 he says ',you are wrong1' lest you should be sorry by and by1 and he is patient and says it many times1 as your father and mother do1 and he says it every time that you do anything wrong1 unless you do so many wrong things at once that he cannot speak of each one4 ,now you shall turn to the right1 and remember that a turn is half a stop4 ,go across the school and then turn to the left6 ,keep a firm hold on your right rein now so as to keep your horse close to the wall4 ,where1 where are your toes8 ,it was not necessary to make you turn so as to see your right foot through your riding habit as ,i can now1 to know that they were pointing outward4 ,your right shoulder told the story by drooping forward4 ,m4 de ,bussigny lays especial stress on this point in his manual1 and you will find that your whole position depends more on that seemingly unimportant right foot than on many other things1 so bend your will to holding it properly1 close against the saddle4 ,walk on now1 keeping on a straight line4 ,if you cannot do it in the school1 you cannot on the road1 and many an ugly scrape against walls1 horse-cars1 and other horses you will receive unless you can keep to the right and in a straight line4 ,now turn to the left1 and go straight across the school4 ,straight6 ,fix your eye on something when you start1 and ride at it with as much determination as if it were a fence2 now you turn to the right again and go forward4 ,have you read ,delsarte8 ,no1 you murmur to yourself1 you have not read ,delsarte1 and1 if you had1 you do not believe that you could remember it or anything else just at present4 ,what an endless string of directions6 ,you wish that there was another pupil with you to take the burden of a few of them6 ,you wish you were--oh6 ,anywhere4 ,this is your obedience1 is it ,esmeralda8 ,well1 you don't care6 ,this is dull6 ,your horse thinks so1 too4 ,he gently tries the reins1 and1 finding that you offer no resistance1 he decides to take a little exercise1 and starts off at a canter1 keeping away from the wall most piously1 avoiding the corners as if some ,hector might be in ambuscade there to catch and tame him1 and rushing on faster and faster1 as you do nothing in particular to stop him4 ,lean to the right1 cries the master1 and you obey1 but the horse continues his canter1 almost a gallop now1 when suddenly your wits return to you1 you draw back first the right hand and then the left1 he begins to trot1 and by some miracle you begin to rise1 and continue to do it1 you do not know exactly how1 feeling a delight in it1 an exhilarating1 exultant sensation as if flying4 ,keep your right leg close to the saddle below the knee and turn your toes in6 ,you obey1 and even remember to press your left knee to the saddle also and to keep your heel down4 ,don't rise to the left6 ,rise straight6 ,your horse is circling to the right1 and you must lean to the right to rise straight6 ,take him into the corners so that he will move more on a straight line1 and you can rise straight and be as much at ease as if on the road4 ,whoa6 ,now1 don't change your position1 but look at yourself6 ,you did not shorten your reins when you began to trot1 and1 if your horse had stumbled1 you could not have aided him to regain his balance4 ,had you shortened them properly1 you could1 by sitting down1 using your leg and whip lightly and turning your hands toward your body1 have brought him down to a walk without hurling yourself forward against the pommel in that fashion4 ,now1 adjust yourself and your reins1 and start forward once more1 and you obey1 and are beginning to flatter yourself that your master does not know that your canter was accidental1 when he warns you against allowing a horse to do anything unbidden4 ,you should have stopped him at once1 he says4 ,he will very likely try to repeat his little maneuver in a few minutes4 ,when he does1 check him instantly1 not by your voice1 but as you have been directed4 ,and now1 have you read ,delsarte8 ,no8 ,if you have time1 you might read a chapter or two with advantage1 simply for the sake of learning that a principle underlies all attitudes4 ,he divides the body into three parts2 the head1 torso1 and legs1 and he teaches that the first and third should act on the same line1 while the second is in opposition to them4 ,for instance1 if you be standing and looking toward the right1 your weight should rest on your right leg and your torso should be turned to the left4 ,neither turn should be exaggerated1 but the two should be exactly proportioned1 one to another4 ,now for riding1 your body is divided into three parts1 your head and torso making one1 your legs above the knee1 the second1 and your legs below the knee1 the third1 and you will find that the first and third will act together1 whether you desire it or not4 ,your right foot is properly placed now1 but turn its toes outward and upward2 you see what becomes of your right shoulder4 ,now try to make a circle to the right1 a volte we call it1 because it is best to become accustomed to a few ,french words1 as there are really no ,english equivalents for many of the terms used in the art of equestrianism4 ,to make a volte you have only to turn to the right and to keep turning1 going steadily away from the wall until opposite your starting point1 and then regaining it by a half-circle4 ,making voltes is not only a useful exercise1 showing your horse that you really mean to guide him1 and teaching you to execute a movement steadily1 but it affords an excellent way of diverting the horse's attention from the mischief which ,satan is always ready to find for idle hoofs4 ,give him a few voltes and he forgets his plans for setting off at a canter4 ,do you understand8 ,very well4 ,when you are half-way down the school try to make a volte4 ,i will give you no order4 ,your horse would understand if ,i did and would begin the movement himself1 and you should do it unaided4 ,you try the volte1 and convince yourself that the geometry master who taught you that a circle was a polygon with an infinite number of sides was more exact and less poetical than you thought him in the days before the riding-school began to reform your judgment on many things4 ,you are conscious of not making a respectable curve in return1 and you draw a deep breath of disgust as you say1 ,that was very bad1 wasn't it8 ,not for the first time4 ,keep your left hand and leg steady1 and try it again on the other side of the ring4 ,better6 ,now walk around1 and make him go into the corners1 if you have to double your left wrist in doing it1 but don't move your arm1 and when you begin to bend you right wrist to turn1 straighten your left1 and remember to lean your body and turn your head1 if you want your horse to turn his body4 ,your wrist acts on his head and keeps him in line2 your whip and leg bring his hind legs under him1 but you must move your body if you want him to move his4 ,now1 you shall make a half volte1 or shall 'change hands1' as it is sometimes called1 because1 if you start with your left hand nearest the wall1 you will come back to the wall with your right hand nearest to it2 or1 to speak properly1 'if you start on the right hand of the school1 you will end on the left hand4' ,for the half volte1 make a half circle to the right1 and then ride in a diagonal line to a point some distance back on your track1 and when you are close to it make three quarters of a turn to the left and you will find yourself on the left of the school1 and in a position to practice keeping your horse to the right4 ,try it1 beginning about two thirds of the way down the long side of the school4 ,now to get back to the right hand1 you may turn to the left across the school1 and turn to the left again4 ,there is a better way of dong it1 but that is enough for to-day4 ,walk now4 ,do you see how much better your horse carries himself1 and how much better you carry your hands1 after those little exercises8 ,now you must try and imagine yourself doing them over and over and over again1 to accustom your mind to them1 just as when learning to play scales and five-finger exercises you used to think them out while walking4 ,shall you not need pictures and diagrams to assist you8 ,not if you have as much imagination as any horsewoman should have4 ,not if you have enough imagination to manage a cow1 much more to enter into the feelings of a good horse4 ,pictures are invaluable to the stupid2 they benumb and enervate the clever1 and turn them into apish imitators1 instead of making them able to act from their own knowledge and volition4 ,theory will not make you a good rider1 but a really good rider without theory is an impossibility1 and your theory must have a deeper seat than your retinae4 ,now1 you shall have a very little trot1 and then you may walk for ten minutes1 and try to do voltes and half voltes by yourself1 asking me for aid if you cannot remember how to execute the movements4 ,doing them will help you to pass away the time when you are too tired to trot1 and will keep you from having any dull moments4 ,and you1 ,esmeralda1 you naughty girl6 ,you forgot all about your sulkiness half an hour ago1 and1 looking your master in the face1 you say3 ,but nobody ever has dull moments in riding-school4 ,there6 ,finish your lesson and walk off to the dressing-room2 you will be trying to trade horses with somebody the next thing1 you artful1 flattering puss6 ,,vii4 ,here we are riding1 she and ,i6 ,browning4 ,what is it now1 ,esmeralda8 ,by your blushing and stammering it is fairly evident that another of your devices for learning on the ,american plan--that is to say1 by not studying--is in full possession of your fancy1 and that again you expect to become a horsewoman by a miracle2 come1 what is it8 ,a music ride8 ,nell has an acquaintance who always rides to music1 and asserts that it is as easy as dancing2 that the music fairly lifts you out of the saddle1 and that the pleasure of equestrian exercise is doubled when it is done to the sound of the flute1 violin1 and bassoon1 or whatever may be the riding-school substitutes8 ,as for lifting you out of the saddle1 ,esmeralda1 it is quite possible that music might execute that feat1 promptly and neatly1 once1 and might leave you out1 were it produced suddenly and unexpectedly by dot leetle ,sherman bad1 and it is undoubtedly true that1 were you a rider1 music would exhilarate you1 quicken your motions1 stimulate your nerves1 and assist you as it assists a soldier when marching4 ,it is also true that it will aid even you somewhat1 by indicating on what step you should rise1 so that your motions will not alternate with those of your horse1 to your discomfiture and his disgust1 and that thus1 by mechanically executing the movement1 you may acquire the power of seeing that you are not performing it when you rise once a minute or thereabouts1 but a music ride is an exercise which a wise pupil will not take until advised thereto by her master4 ,still1 have your own way6 ,why did ,george ,washington and the other fathers of the republic exist1 if its daughters must be in bondage to common sense and expediency8 ,borrow ,nell's habit once more1 for the criticism to be undergone on the road is mild compared to that of a gallery of spectators before whom you must repeatedly pass in review1 and who may select you as the object of their especial scrutiny4 ,dress at home1 if possible2 if not1 go to the school early1 and array yourself rapidly1 but carefully1 for there may be fifty riders present during the evening1 and there will be little room to spare on the mounting-stand1 and no minutes to waste on buttoning gloves1 shortening skirt straps or tightening boot lacings4 ,remember all that you have been taught about mounting and about taking your reins1 and think assiduously of it1 with a determination to pay no attention to the gallery4 ,there will be no spectators on the mounting-stand1 and ,theodore1 who will take charge of you in the ring1 will mount before you do1 and when you have been put in your saddle by one of the masters1 and start1 he will take his place on your right1 nearer the centre of the ring4 ,while you are walking your horses slowly about1 turning corners carefully and never ceasing to control your reins1 warn him that when you say1 ,centre1 he must turn out to the right instantly1 that you also may do so4 ,if possible1 you will not pronounce the word1 but will ride as long as the horses canter or trot in time to the music4 ,do you understand1 ,theodore asks1 that these horses adjust their gait to the music8 ,so ,nell's friend says4 ,well1 ,i don't believe it4 ,they are good horses1 but ,i don't believe that they practice circus tricks4 ,why must ,i go to the centre the minute that you bid me8 ,why couldn't you pull up and pass out behind me8 ,because if ,i did1 somebody might ride over me4 ,it is not proper to stop while on the track4 ,oh-h6 ,how long do they trot or canter at a time8 ,half an hour8 ,only a few minutes1 you answer1 wondering whether ,theodore really supposes that you could canter1 much less trot half an hour1 even if stimulated by the music of the spheres4 ,that's a pretty rider1 he says1 as a girl circles lightly past1 sitting fairly well1 and rising straight1 but with her arms so much extended that her elbow is the apex of a very obtuse angle1 though her forearms are horizontal4 ,you explain this point to ,theodore1 who replies that she looks pretty1 and seems to be able to trot for some time1 whereupon your heart sinks within you4 ,what will he say when he sees the necessary brevity of your performance8 ,other riders enter3 two or three men mounted on their own horses1 beautiful creatures concerning whose value fabulous tales are told in the stable2 the best rider of the school1 very quietly and correctly dressed1 and managing her horse so easily that the women in the gallery do not perceive that she is guiding him at all1 although the real judges1 old soldiers1 a stray racing man or two1 the other school pupils and the master--regard her admiringly1 and the grooms1 as they bring in new horses1 keep an eye on her and her movements1 as they linger on their way back to the stable4 ,her horse is very good1 ,theodore admits1 but ,i don't think much of her4 ,well1 yes1 she is pretty1 he admits1 as she executes the ,spanish trot for a few steps and then pats her horse's shoulder2 it's pretty1 but anybody could do it on a trained horse1 couldn't they1 sir8 he asks your master1 who rides up1 mounted on his own pet horse4 ,anybody who knew how4 ,the horse has been trained to answer certain orders1 but the orders must be given4 ,an untrained horse would not understand the orders1 no matter how good an animal he might be4 ,antinous might not have been able to ride ,bucephalus1 and ,i don't believe that ,alexander could have coaxed ,rosinante into a ,spanish trot4 ,it isn't enough to have a ,corliss engine1 or enough to have a good engineer3 you must have them both1 and they must be acquainted with one another4 ,i don't believe that horse would do that for you4 ,no1 ,i don't think he would1 ,theodore says dryly1 for he has been watching1 and has reluctantly owned to himself that he does not see how the movement is effected4 ,meantime1 you1 ,esmeralda1 have been arduously devoting yourself to maintaining a correct attitude1 and are rewarded by hearing somebody in the gallery wonder whether you represent the kitchen poker or ,bunker ,hill ,monument4 ,don't mind1 your master says1 encouragingly4 ,it is better to be stiffly erect than to be crooked1 and as for the person who spoke1 she could not ride a ,newfoundland dog1 and with that he touches his hat1 and rides lightly across the ring to speak to a lady whose horse has1 in the opinion of the gallery1 been showing a very bad temper1 although in reality every plunge and curvet has been made in answer to her wrist and to the tiny spur which his rider wears and uses when needed4 ,the lady nods in answer to something which the master says1 the two draw near to the wall1 side by side1 the others fall in behind them1 and the band begins a waltz1 playing rather deliberately at first1 but soon slightly accelerating the time4 ,there is very little actual need of guiding your horse1 ,esmeralda1 because long habit has taught him what to do at a music-ride1 but you do right to continue to endeavor to make him obey you4 ,should he stumble2 should that man riding before you and struggling to make his horse change his leading foot fail in the attempt1 and cause the poor creature to fall2 should the rider behind you lose control of her horse1 your firm hold of the reins would be of priceless value to you1 but now the waltz rhythm suddenly changes to that of a march1 and your horse begins to trot1 slowly and with little action at first1 and then with a freer1 longer stride which really lifts you out of the saddle1 sending you rather too high for grace1 indeed1 but making the effort very slight for you1 and enabling you to think about your elbows1 and sitting to the right and keeping your right shoulder back and your right foot close to the saddle and pointing downward1 and your left knee also close1 and about seventy-five other things1 as you sum up the case to yourself4 ,thanks to this1 you are enabled to continue until the music stops1 and ,theodore says1 approvingly1 ,well1 you can ride a little4 ,a very little1 your master says4 ,she has learned something1 of course1 but it would be the unkindest of flattery for me to fell her that she does well4 ,one must begin to ride in early childhood1 ,theodore says4 ,one should begin to be taught in childhood1 the master amends1 but it is not absolutely necessary4 ,some of the best riders in the ,french ,army never mounted until they went to the military school1 and some of the best riders at ,west ,point only know a horse by sight until they fall into the clutches of the masters there1 and then6 ,his countenance expresses deep commiseration4 ,now1 he adds1 if you take my advice1 you two1 you will take places in the centre of the ring2 you will sit as well as you know how1 ,miss ,esmeralda1 and you will watch the others through the next music4 ,it is perfectly allowable1 he adds1 drawing rein a moment as he passes1 to sit a little carelessly when your horse is at rest1 always keeping firm hold of the reins1 but ,i would rather that you did not do it until you had ridden a little more and are firmer in your seat4 ,hollow your waist the least in the world1 for the sake of our poker-critic in the gallery1 and watch for bad riding as well as for good1 and away he goes1 and again the double circle of riders sweeps around the ring1 and you have time to see that the horses seem to enjoy the motion1 and that their action is more easy and graceful than it is when they are obeying the commands of poor riders4 ,theodore indulges in a little sarcasm at the expense of a man whose elbows are on a level with his shoulders1 while his two hands are within about three inches of one another on the reins1 and his horse has as full possession of his head as of his body and legs1 which is saying much1 for his riders toes are pointing earthward and his heels apparently trying to find a way to one another through the body of his steed4 ,another man1 riding at an amble into which he has forced his fat horse by using a ,mexican bit1 and keeping his wrists in constant motion2 and another1 who leans backward until his nose is on a level with the visor of his cap1 also attract his attention1 but he persists in his opinion that the best riders among the ladies are those who can trot and canter the longest1 until your master1 coming up1 says in answer to your protest against such heresy1 ,no4 ,ease and a good seat are indeed essential1 but they are not everything4 ,they insure comfort and confidence1 but not always safety4 ,it is well to be able to leap a fence without being thrown4 ,it is better to know how to stop and open a gate and shut it after you1 lest some day you should have a horse which cannot leap1 or a sprained wrist which may make the leap imprudent for yourself4 ,you can acquire the seat almost insensibly while learning the management1 but you must study in order to learn the management4 ,however1 you came mainly for enjoyment to-night1 ,i think4 ,go and ride some more4 ,and you obey1 and you have the enjoyment4 ,and when you go to the dressing-room1 it is with a feeling of perfect indifference to the gallery critics1 and when you come down1 ready for the street1 you have a little gossip with the master4 ,this is the only kind of music ride1 he tells you1 practicable for riders of widely varying ability1 but the ordinary circus is but a poor display of horsemanship compared to what may be seen in some private evening classes in this country1 or in military schools4 ,there are groups of riders in ,boston and in ,new ,york1 friends who have long practiced together1 who can dancer the lancers and ,virginia reels as easily on horseback as on foot1 and who can ride at the ring as well as ,lord ,lindesay himself1 or as well as the pretty ,english girls who amuse themselves with the sport in ,india4 ,just think1 you sigh1 to be able to make your horse go forward and back1 and to move in a circle1 a little bit of a circle1 and to do all of it exactly in time6 ,oh6 ,and then1 seeing ,theodore perfectly unmoved1 your master tells of the military music rides when1 rank after rank1 the soldiers dash across the wide spaces of the school and stop at a word1 or by a preconcerted1 silent signal1 every horse's head in line1 every left hand down1 saber or lance exactly poised1 every foot motionless1 horse and rider still as if wrought from bronze4 ,and then he tells of the labyrinthine evolutions when the long line moving over the school floor coils and uncoils itself more swiftly than any serpent1 each horse moving at speed1 each one obeying as implicitly as any creature of brass and iron moved by steam4 ,and then he talks of broadsword fights1 in which the left hand1 managing the horse1 outdoes the cunning of the right1 and of the great reviews1 when1 if ever1 a monarch must feel his power as he sees his squadrons dash past him1 saluting as one man1 and reflects on the expenditure of mental and physical power represented in that one moment's display4 ,you can't learn to do such things as these1 he says1 by mere rough riding4 ,why1 only the other day1 when ,queen ,victoria went to ,sandringham1 the gentlemen of the ,norfolk ,county hunt turned out to escort her carriage1 all in pink1 all wearing the green velvet caps of the hunt1 all splendidly mounted and perfectly appointed4 ,they were a magnificent sight1 and it was no wonder that ,her ,majesty looked at them with approval4 ,in a dash across country they would probably have surpassed any other riders in the world1 unless1 perhaps1 those of some other ,english country1 but when ,her ,majesty and the ,prince of ,wales appeared at a front window1 and the gentlemen rode past to salute them1 what happened8 ,the first three or four ranks went on well enough1 although ,frenchmen1 or ,spaniards1 or ,germans would have done better1 because they1 had they chosen1 would have saluted and then reined backward1 but the ,englishmen made a gallant show1 and ,her ,majesty smiled4 ,somebody raised a cheer1 and the horses began to rear and perform movements not named in the school manuals4 ,the ,queen laughed outright1 and the gentlemen finished their pretty parade in some confusion4 ,now a very little school training would have prevented that accident1 and the huntsmen would have been as undisturbed as ,queen ,christina was that day when her horse began to plunge while in a procession1 and she quickly brought him to his senses1 and won the heart of every ,spaniard who saw her by showing that 'the ,austrian' could ride4 ,an ,english hunting-man's seat is so good that he is often careless about fine details1 but a trained horseman is careless about nothing1 and a trained horsewoman is like unto him4 ,and now the lights are out1 and you and ,theodore go away1 and1 walking home1 lay plans for further work in the saddle1 for he1 too1 has caught the riding-fever1 and now you begin to think about class lessons4 ,,viii4 ,all in a wow4 ,sothern4 ,and you really fancy1 ,esmeralda1 that you are ready for class lessons8 ,you have been in the saddle only six times1 remember4 ,but you have been assured1 on the highest authority1 that fifty lessons in class are worth a hundred private lessons8 ,and the same authority says that the class lessons should be preceded by at least twice as much private instruction as you have enjoyed2 but1 naturally1 you suppress this unfavorable context4 ,you think that you cannot begin to subject yourself to military discipline so soon8 ,after that highly edifying statement of your feelings1 ,esmeralda1 hasten away to school before the dew evaporates from your dawning humility1 and make arrangements for entering a class of beginners4 ,you are fortunate in arriving half way between two hours1 and find to your delight that you may begin to ride with five or six other pupils on the next stroke of the clock1 and you hasten to array yourself1 and come forth just in time to see another class1 a long line of pretty girls1 making its closing rounds1 the leader sitting with exquisitely balanced poise1 which seems perfectly careless1 but is the result of years of training and practice2 others following her with somewhat less grace1 but still accomplishing what even your slightly taught vision perceives to be feats of management far beyond you2 still others1 one blushing little girl with her hat slung on her arm1 the heavy coils of her hair falling below her waist2 and an assistant master riding with the last pupil1 who is less skillful than the others1 while another master rides up and down the line or stands still in the centre of the ring1 criticising1 exhorting1 praising1 using sarcasm1 entreaty and sharp command1 until the zeal and energy of all ,gaul seem centered in his speech4 ,the clock strikes1 and in a trice the whole class is dismounted1 and its members have scampered away to make themselves presentable for the journey home1 and to you1 awaiting your destiny in the reception room1 enter ,versatilia1 the beauty1 and the society young lady1 and ,nell1 and you stare at them in wrathful astonishment fully equalled by theirs1 and then1 in the following grand outburst of confession1 you are informed that1 each one having planned to outgeneral the others and to become a wondrous equestrian1 the ,fates and the wise fairy who1 sitting in a little room overlooking the ring1 presides over the destinies of classes1 have willed that you should be taught together4 ,and there are three other young ladies who have never ridden at all1 the wise fairy says1 and they are to ride behind you1 and you must do very well in order to encourage them1 she adds with a kind smile2 and then there is a general muster of grooms and horses1 and in a moment you are all in your saddles and walking about the ring1 into which1 an instant after1 another lady rides easily and gracefully1 to be saluted by both masters with a sigh of relief1 and requested to take the lead1 which she does1 trotting lightly across the ring1 wheeling into line and falling into a walk with trained precision1 and now the lesson really begins4 ,you must understand1 ladies1 says the teacher1 that you must always1 in riding in class1 keep a distance of about three feet between your horse and the one before you1 and that you must preserve this equally in the corners1 on the short sides of the school1 and on the long sides4 ,that's easy enough1 ,i'm sure1 says the society young lady1 taking it upon herself to answer1 and eliciting an expression of astonishment from the teacher1 not because he is surprised1 habit already rendering him sadly familiar with young women of her type1 but because he wishes to relegate her to her proper position of submissive silence as soon as may be4 ,you think so8 he asks4 ,then we shall depend on you to regard the distance with great accuracy4 ,at present you are two feet too far in the rear4 ,forward6 ,now1 ladies1 when ,i say 'forward1' it is not alone for one2 it is for all of you2 each one must look and see whether or not her horse is in the right place4 ,and she must not bend sideways to do it1 ,miss ,versatilia4 ,she must look over her horse's head between his ears4 ,now1 forward6 ,now1 look straight between your horse's ears1 each one of you1 and see something on the horse before you that is just on a line with the top of his head1 and use that as a guide to tell you whether or not you are in place6 ,now1 forward1 ,miss--,miss ,lady6 ,not so fast6 ,keep walking6 ,do not let him trot6 ,keep up in the corners6 ,do not let your horse go there to think6 ,use your whip lightly6 ,not so1 not so6 as the society young lady brings down her whip1 half on the shoulder of gentle ,toto1 half on his saddle1 and sets him dancing lightly out of line1 to the discomfiture of ,versatilia's horse1 who follows him from a sense of duty4 ,take your places again1 cries your teacher1 and keep to the wall6 ,if you had had proper control of your horse1 that would not have happened1 ,miss ,versatilia6 ,now1 ,miss ,lady1 hold your whip in the hollow of your hand1 and use it by a slight movement1 not by raising your arm and lashing1 lashing1 lashing as if you were on the race course4 ,a lady is not a jockey1 and she should employ her whip almost as quietly as she moves her left foot4 ,forward1 forward6 ,and keep on the track1 ladies6 ,keep your horses' heads straight by holding your reins perfectly even1 then their bodies will be straight1 and you will make one line instead of being on six lines as you are now4 ,and1 ,miss ,esmeralda1 forward6 ,use your whip6 ,not so gently6 ,it is not always enough to give your horse one little tap4 ,give him many1 one after the other with quickened movement1 so that he will understand that you are in a hurry4 ,it is like the reveille which sounds ever louder until everybody is awake6 ,now1 you must not make circles6 ,make squares6 ,go into the corners6 ,don't pull on your horse's head1 ,miss ,nell6 ,he thinks that you mean him to stop1 and then you whip him and he tries to go on1 and you pull again1 and he knows not what to think4 ,always carry out whatever purpose you begin with your horse if you can4 ,if sometimes you make a mistake1 and cannot absolutely correct it because of those behind you1 guide your horse to his proper place1 and the next time that you come to that part of the ring1 make him go right6 ,forward1 forward6 ,ladies1 not one of you is in the right place6 ,keep up6 ,keep up6 ,miss ,lady1 you must go forward regularly6 ,now prepare to trot6 ,no1 no6 ,walk6 ,when ,i say1 ',prepare to trot1' it is not for you to begin1 but to think of what you must do to begin1 and you must not let your horses go until ,i give the second order1 and then not too fast at first4 ,now1 prepare to trot6 ,trot6 ,not quite so fast1 ,miss ,lady2 gently6 ,keep up1 keep up1 ,miss ,beauty6 ,miss ,esmeralda1 you are sitting too far to the left1 your left shoulder is too far back6 on't hold your hands so high1 ,miss ,versatilia6 ,rise straight1 ,miss ,esmeralda6 ,now1 remember1 ladies1 what ,i say is for all4 ,prepare to whoa6 ,whoa6 ,the leader1 by an almost imperceptible series of movements1 first sitting down in her saddle1 then slightly relaxing her hold of the reins1 and turning both hands very slightly inward1 brings her horse to a walk and continues on her way4 ,the others1 with more or less awkwardness1 come to a full stop1 and your teacher laughs4 ,when ,i say that1 he explains1 ,i mean to cease trotting1 not to stop4 ,go forward1 and remember how you have been taught to go forward1 ,miss ,esmeralda4 ,it is not enough to frown at your horse4 ,now1 prepare to trot6 ,trot6 ,and then he repeats again and again that series of injunctions which already seems so threadbare to you1 ,esmeralda1 but which you do not follow1 not because you do not try1 but because you have not full control of your muscles1 and then comes once more the order1 ,prepare to whoa4 ,whoa6 and a volley of sharp reminders about the solemn duty of keeping a horse moving while turning corners1 and once more the column proceeds as regularly as possible4 ,i observe1 says your teacher1 riding close to you1 that you seem timid1 ,miss ,esmeralda4 ,do you feel frightened4 ,no1 you assure him4 ,then it is because you are nervous that you are so rigid4 ,try not to be stiff4 ,give yourself a little more flexibility in the fingers1 the wrists1 the elbows1 everywhere6 ,you are not tired8 ,no8 ,be easy then1 be easy6 ,and you remember that you have been likened unto a poker1 and sadly think that1 perhaps the comparison was just4 ,the other master shall ride with you for a few rounds1 he continues2 that will give you confidence1 and you will not be nervous4 ,you indignantly disclaim the possession of nerves1 he smiles indulgently1 and the other teacher rides up beside you1 and advises you steadily and quietly during the next succession of trotting and walking1 and1 conscious of not exerting yourself quite so much and of being easier1 you begin to think that perhaps you have a nerve or two somewhere1 and you determine to conquer them4 ,you are sitting too far to the right now1 says your new guide1 the most quiet of ,north ,britons4 ,there should be about half an inch of the saddle visible to you beyond the edge of your habit1 if it fit quite smooth1 but you would better not look down to se it4 ,it would do no harm for once1 perhaps1 but it would look queer1 and might come to be a habit4 ,try to judge of your position by the feeling of your shoulders and by thinking whether you are observing every rule2 but1 once in a great while1 when you are walking1 take your reins in your left hand1 pass your right hand lightly along the edge of your saddle1 ad satisfy yourself that you are quite correct in position4 ,if you be quite sure that you can take a downward glance1 without moving your head1 try it occasionally1 but very rarely4 ,use this1 in fact1 as you would use a measure to verify a drawing after employing every other test1 and if any teacher notice you and reprove you for doing it1 do not allow yourself to use it again for two or three lessons1 for1 unless you can be quiet about it1 it is better not to use it at all4 ,ladies1 ladies1 cries a new voice1 at the sound of which the leader is seen to sit even better than before1 this is not a church1 that you should go to sleep while you are taught truth6 ,attend to your instructor6 ,keep up when he tells you4 ,make your movements with energy4 ,you tire him2 you tire me2 you tire the good horses6 how then1 rouse yourselves6 ,prepare to trot6 ,trot6 ,and away go the horses1 for it is not every hour that they hear the strong voice which means that instant obedience must be rendered4 ,keep up6 keep up6 cries your teacher4 ,come in6 says your own guide1 and then pauses himself1 to urge one of the beginners behind you1 and for a minute or two the orders follow one another thick and fast1 the three men working together1 each seeming to have eyes for each pupil1 and to divine the intentions of his coadjutors1 and then comes the order1 ,prepare to whoa6 ,whoa6 and the master sits down on the mounting-stand1 and frees his mind on the subject of corners1 a topic which you begin to think is inexhaustible4 ,please show these ladies how to go into a corner1 he concludes1 and your teacher does so1 executing the movement so marvelously that it seems as if he would have no difficulty in performing it in any passageway through which his horse could walk in a straight line4 ,the whole class gazes enviously1 to be brought to the proper frame of mind by a sharp expostulatory fire of3 ,keep your distance6 ,forward6 with about four times as many warnings addressed to the society young lady as to all the others2 and then suddenly1 unexpectedly1 the clock strikes and the lesson is over4 ,the society young lady dresses herself with much precision and deliberation1 and announces that she will never1 no1 never6 never so long as she lives1 come again2 and in spite of ,nell's attempts to quiet her1 she repeats the statement in the reception room1 in the master's hearing1 aiming it straight at his quiet countenance4 ,no8 he says1 not so much disturbed as she could desire4 ,you should not despair1 you will learn in time4 ,i don't despair1 she answers2 but ,i know something1 and ,i will not be treated as if ,i knew nothing4 ,an1 you know something1 he repeats1 in an interested way4 ,but what you do not know1 my young lady1 is how little that something is6 ,this is a school2 you came here to be taught4 ,i will not cheat you by not teaching you4 ,and it is no way to teach6 ,three men ordering a class at once6 ,ah1 it is 'no way to teach'6 ,now1 it is ,i who am taking a lesson from you4 ,i am greatly obliged1 but ,i must keep to my own old way4 ,it may be wrong--for you1 my young lady--but it has made soldiers to ride1 and little girls1 and other young ladies1 and ,i am content4 ,and these others8 ,are they not coming any more8 ,and every one of those cowardly girls huddles away behind you1 ,esmeralda1 and leaves you to stammer1 ,y-yes1 sir1 but you do s-scold a little hard4 ,that1 says the master1 is my bog voice to make the horses mind1 and to make sure that you hear it4 ,and ,i told you the other day that ,i spoke for your good1 not for my own4 ,if ,i should say every time ,i want trotting1 ',my dear and much respected beautiful young ladies1 please to trot1' how much would you learn in a morning8 ,we are ladies1 says the society young lady1 and we should be treated as ladies4 ,and you--or these others1 since you retire--are my pupils1 and shall be treated as my pupils1 he says with a courtly bow and a ,good morning1 and you go away trying to persuade the society young lady to reconsider4 ,not that ,i care much whether she does or not1 ,nell says confidentially to you4 ,she's too overbearing for me1 and just at that minute the voice of the society young lady is heard to call the master overbearing1 and you and ,nell exchange delighted1 mischievous smiles4 ,now for that stiffness of yours1 ,esmeralda1 there is a remedy1 as there is for everything but death1 and you should use it immediately1 before the rigidity becomes habitual4 ,continue your other exercises1 but devote only about a third as much time to them1 and use the other two thirds for ,delsarte movements4 ,first3 ,let your hands swing loosely from the wrist1 and swing them lifelessly to and fro4 ,execute the movement first with the right hand then with the left1 then with both4 ,second3 ,let the fingers hang from the knuckles1 and shake them in the same way and in the same order4 ,third3 ,let the forearm hang from the elbow1 and proceed in like manner4 ,fourth3 ,let the whole arm hang from the shoulder1 and swing the arms by twisting the torso4 ,execute the finger and hand movements with the arms hanging at the side1 extended sidewise1 stretched above the head1 thrust straight forward1 with the arms bent at right angles to them and with the arms flung backward as far as possible4 ,execute the forearm movements with the arms falling at the side1 and also with the elbow as high as the shoulder4 ,after you have performed these exercises for a few days1 you will begin to find it possible to make yourself limp and lifeless when necessary1 and the knowledge will be almost as valuable as the ability to hold yourself firm and steady4 ,you will find the exercises in ,mrs4 ,thompson's ,society ,gymnastics1 but these are all that you will need for at least one week1 especially if you have to devote many hours to the task of persuading the society young lady not to leave your class unto you desolate4 ,,ix4 ,left wheel into line6 and they wheel and obey4 ,tennyson4 ,when you arrive at the school for your second class lesson1 ,esmeralda1 you find the dressing-room pervaded by a silence as clearly indicative of a recent tempest as the path cloven through a forest by a tornado4 ,from the shelter of screens and from retired nooks1 come sounds indicative of garments doffed and donned with abnormal celerity and severity1 but never a word of joking1 and never a cry for deft-fingered ,kitty's assistance1 and then1 little by little1 even these noises die away1 and the palace of the ,sleeping ,beauty could not be more quiet4 ,no girl stirs from her lurking-place1 until our yourself issue from your pet corner1 and then ,nell1 a warning finger on her lip1 noiselessly emerges from hers1 and you go into the reception room together1 and she explains to you that1 despite her announcement that she would never come again1 the society young lady has appeared1 and has announced her intention to defend what she grandly terms her position as a lady4 ,and the master will think us1 her associates1 as unruly as she is6 ,nell almost sobs4 ,if ,i were he1 ,i would send the whole class home1 there6 ,but the other girls now enter1 each magnificently polite to the others1 and the file of nine begins its journey along the wall1 attended as before1 the society young lady taking great pains about distance1 and really doing very well1 but the beauty sitting with calm negligence which soon brings a volley of remonstrance from both teachers1 who address her much after the fashion of ,sydney ,smith's saying1 ,you are on the high road to ruin the moment you think yourself rich enough to be careless4 ,you must not keep your whip in contact with your horse's shoulder all the time1 lectured one of the teachers1 if you do1 you have no means of urging him to go forward a little faster4 ,keep it pressed against the saddle1 not slanting outward or backward4 ,when you use it1 do it without relaxing your hold upon the reins1 for if1 by any mischance1 your horse should start quickly1 you will need it4 ,forward1 ladies1 forward6 don't stop in the corners6 ,use your whips a very little1 just as you begin to turn6 ,miss ,esmeralda1 keep to the wall6 ,no1 no6 ,don't keep to the wall by having your left rein shorter than your right6 ,they should be precisely even4 ,as you approach the corner1 says the other teacher quietly1 speaking to you alone1 carry your right hand a little nearer to your left without bending your wrist1 so that your rein will just touch your horse's neck on the right side4 ,that will keep his head straight4 ,but he seems determined to go to the right1 you object4 ,that is because your right rein is too short now4 ,while we are going down the long side of the school1 make the reins precisely even4 ,now1 lay the right rein on his neck1 use your whip1 and touch him with your heel to make him go on2 bend your right wrist to turn him1 use your whip once more1 and go on again6 ,forward1 ,miss ,esmeralda1 forward6 cries the other teacher4 ,that is because ,miss ,lady did not go into the corner1 and so is too far in advance1 your teacher explains4 ,you must1 in class1 keep your distance as carefully when the rifer immediately before you is wrong as when she is right4 ,it is the necessity of doing that1 of having to be ready for emergencies1 to think of others as much as of your horse and of yourself1 that give class teaching much of its value4 ,forward1 ladies1 forward1 cries the other teacher4 ,remember that you are not to go to sleep6 ,now prepare to trot1 and don't go too fast at first4 ,remember always to change from one gait to another gently1 for your own sake1 that you may not be thrown out of position2 for your horse's1 that he may not be startled1 and made unruly and ungraceful4 ,he has nerves as well as you4 ,now1 prepare to trot6 ,trot6 ,shorten your reins1 ,miss ,beauty6 ,shorten them6 and during the next minute or two1 while the class trots about a third of a mile1 the poor beauty hears every command in the manual addressed to her1 and smilingly tries1 but tries in vain to obey them2 but in an unhappy moment the teacher's glance falls on the society young lady and he bids her keep her right shoulder back4 ,you told me that before1 she says1 rather more crisply than is prescribed by any of he manuals of etiquette which constitute her sole library4 ,then why don't you do it8 is his answer4 ,keep your left shoulder forward1 he says a moment later1 whereupon the society young lady turns to the right1 and plants herself in the centre of the ring with as much dignity as is possible1 considering that her horse1 not having been properly stopped1 and feeling the nervous movements of her hands1 moves now one leg and now another1 now draws his head down pulling her forward on the pommel1 and generally disturbs the beautiful repose of manner upon which she prides herself4 ,you are tired8 ,no8 ,frightened8 ,your stirrup is too short8 ,you are not comfortable8 demands the teacher1 riding up beside her4 ,is there anything which you would like to have me do8 ,i don't like to be told to do two things at once1 she responds in a tone which should be felt by the thermometer at the other end of the ring4 ,but you must do two things at once1 and many more than two1 on horseback1 he says2 when you are rested1 take your place in the line4 ,i think ,i will dismount1 she says4 ,very well1 and before she has time to change her mind1 a bell is rung1 a groom guides her horse to the mounting-stand1 the master himself takes her out of the saddle1 courteously bids her be seated in the reception room and watch the others1 and she finds her little demonstration completely and effectually crushed1 and1 what is worse1 apparently without intention4 ,nobody appears to be aware that she has intended a rebellion1 although whole ,fourth of ,julys seem to bile in her veins4 ,now1 the teacher goes on1 we will turn to the right1 singly4 ,turn6 ,keep up1 ladies6 ,keep up6 ,ride straight6 ,to the right again6 ,turn6 and back on the track1 on the other side of the school1 the leader in the rear1 the beginners in advance1 you continue until two more turns to the right replace you4 ,that was all wrong1 the teacher says1 cheerfully4 ,you did not ride straight1 and you did not ride together4 ,your horses' heads should be in line with one another1 and then when you arrive at the track and turn to the right again1 your distance will be correct4 ,now we will have a little trot1 and while you are resting afterward1 you shall try the turn again4 ,the society young lady1 watching the scene in sulkiness1 notes various faults in each rider and feels that the truly promising pupil of the class is sitting in her chair at that moment2 but she says nothing of the kind1 contenting herself by asking the master1 with well-adjusted carelessness1 if it would not be better for the teacher to speak softly4 ,it gives a positive shock to the nerves to be so vehemently addressed1 she says1 with the air of a ,hammond advising an ignorant nurse4 ,that is what he has the intention to do1 replies the other4 ,it is necessary to arouse the rider's will and not let her sleep1 but if it were not1 the teacher of riding1 or anybody who has to give orders1 orders1 orders all day long1 must speak from an expanded chest1 with his lungs full of air1 or at night he will be dumb4 ,the young man behind the counter who has to entreat1 persuade1 to beg1 to be gentle1 he may make his voice soft1 but to speak with energy in a low tone is to strain the vocal cords and to injure the lungs permanently4 ,the opera singer finds to sing piano1 pianissimo more wearisome than to make herself heard above a ,wagner orchestra4 ,the orator1 with everybody still and listening with countenance intent1 dares not speak softly1 except now and then for contrast4 ,in the army we have three months' rest1 and then we go to the surgeon1 and he examines our throats and lungs1 and sees whether or not they need any treatment4 ,if you go to the camp of the military this summer1 you will find the young officers whom you know in the ball-room so soft and so gentle1 not whispering to their men1 but shouting1 and the best officer will have the loudest shout4 ,the society young lady remembers the stories which she has heard her father and uncles tell of that officer's sore throat1 which in #ahfa and #ahfb1 caused so many ludicrous incidents among the volunteer soldiery1 the energetic rill master of one day being transformed into a voiceless pantomimist by the next1 but1 like ,juliet when she spoke1 she says nothing1 and now the teacher once more cries1 ,turn6 and then1 suddenly1 ,prepare to stop6 ,stop6 ,now look at your line6 ,now two of you have your horses' heads even6 ,and how many of you were riding straight8 ,a dead silence gives a precisely correct answer1 and again he cries1 ,forward6 ,a repetition of the movement is demanded1 and is received with cries of ,this is not good1 ladies6 ,this is not good6 ,we will try again by and by4 ,now1 prepare to change hands in file4 ,the leader1 turning at one corner of the school1 makes a line almost like a reversed s to the corner diagonally opposite1 and comes back to the track on the left hand1 the others straggling after with about as much precision and grace as ,jill followed ,jack down the hill2 but1 before they are fairly aware how very ill they have performed the manoeuvre1 they perceive that their teacher not only aimed at having them learn how to turn to the left at each corner1 but also at giving himself an opportunity to make remarks about their feet and the position thereof1 and at the end of five minutes each girl feels as if she were a centipede1 and you1 ,esmeralda1 secretly wonder whether something in the way of mucilage of thumb-tacks might not be used to keep your own riding boots close to the saddle4 ,and don't let your left foot swing1 says the teacher in closing his exhortations2 hold it perfectly steady6 ,now change hands in file1 and come back to the track on the right again1 and we will have a little trot4 ,and before you begin1 lectures the master1 ,i will tell you something4 ,the faster you go1 after once you know how to stay in the saddle1 the better for you1 the better for your horse4 ,you see the great steamer crossing the ocean when under full headway1 and she can turn how this way and now that1 with the least little touch of the rudder1 but when she is creeping1 creeping through the narrow channel1 she must have a strong1 sure hand at the helm1 and when she is coming up to her wharf1 easy1 easy1 she must swing in a wide circle4 ,that is why my word to you is always ',forward6 ,forward6' and again1 ',forward6' ,there is a scientific reason underlying this1 if you care to know it4 ,when you go fast1 neither you nor the horse has time to feel the pressure of the atmosphere from above1 and that is why it seems as if you were flying1 and he is happy and exhilarated as well as you4 ,you will see the tame horse in the paddock gallop about for his pleasure1 and the wild horse on the prairie will start and run for miles in mere sportiveness4 ,so1 if you want to have pleasure on horseback1 ',forward6' ,while the little trot is going on1 the society young lady improves the shining hour by asking the master if he does not think it cruel to make a poor horse go just as fast as it can1 to which he replies that the horse will desire to go quite as long as she can or will1 whereupon she withdraws into the cave of sulkiness again1 but brightens perceptibly as you dismount and join her4 ,you do look so funny1 ,esmeralda1 she begins4 ,your feet do seem positively immense1 as the teacher said4 ,pardon me2 ,i said not that1 gently interposes the teacher2 only that they looked too big1 bigger than they are1 when she turns them outward4 ,and you do sit very much on one side1 she continues to ,versatilia3 and your crimps are quite flat1 my dear1 to the beauty4 ,never mind2 they aren't fastened on with a safety pin1 retorts the beauty1 plucking up spirit1 unexpectedly4 ,o1 no6 of course not1 the wise fairy interposes1 with a little laugh4 ,you young ladies do not do such things1 of course4 ,but1 do you know1 ,i heard of a lady who wore a switch into a riding- school ring one day1 and it came off1 and the riding master had to keep it in his pocket until the end of the session4 ,little does the wise fairy know of the society young lady's ways6 ,what she has determined to say1 she declines to retain unsaid1 and so she cries3 ,and you do thrust your head forward so awkwardly1 ,nell6 ',we are ladies1' quotes ,nell1 and we can't answer you1 and the society young lady finds herself alone with the wise fairy1 who is suddenly very busy with her books1 and after a moment1 she renews her announcement that she is not coming any more4 ,well1 ,i wouldn't1 the wise fairy says1 looking thoughtfully at her4 ,you make the others unhappy1 and that is not desirable1 and you will not be taught4 ,i gave you fair warning that the master would be severe1 but those who come here to learn enjoy their lessons4 ,once in a great while there are ladies who do not wish to be taught1 but they find it out very soon1 as you have4 ,there is always a good reason for everything1 the master says gravely4 ,now1 ,i have seen many great men who could not learn to ride4 ,there was ,gambetta4 ,nothing would make a fine rider out of that man6 ,why8 ,because for one moment that his mind was on his horse1 a hundred it was on something else4 ,and ,jules ,verne6 ,he could not learn6 ,and ,emile ,giardin6 ,they had so many things to think about6 ,now1 perhaps it is so with this young lady4 ,society demands so much1 one must do so many things1 that she cannot bend her mind to this one little art4 ,it is unfortunate1 but then she is not the first6 ,and with a little salute he turns away1 and the society young lady1 much crosser than she was before he invented this apology for her1 comes into the dressing room and-- bids you farewell8 ,not at all6 ,says that she is sorry1 and that she knows that she can learn1 and is going to try4 ,and ,i suppose now that nothing will make her go6 ,nell says1 lugubriously1 as you saunter homeward4 ,you are still conscious of stiffness1 ,esmeralda8 ,that is not a matter for surprise or for anxiety4 ,all your life you have been working for strength1 for even your dancing-school teacher was not one of those scientific ballet-masters who1 like ,carlo ,blasis1 would have taught you that the strength of a muscle often deprives it of flexibility and softness4 ,you desire that your muscles should be rigid or relaxed at will4 ,go and stand in front of your mirror1 and let your head drop forward toward either shoulder1 causing your whole torso to become limp4 ,now hold the head erect1 and try to reproduce the feeling4 ,the effect is awkward1 and not to be practised in public1 but the exercise enables you to perceive for yourself when you are stiff about the shoulders and waist4 ,now drop your head backward1 and swing the body1 not trying to control the head1 and persist until you can thoroughly relax the muscles of the neck1 a work which you need not expect to accomplish until after you have made many efforts4 ,now execute all your movements for strengthening the muscles1 very slowly and lightly1 using as little force as possible4 ,after you can do this fairly well1 begin by executing them quickly and forcibly1 then gradually retard them1 and make them more gently1 until you glide at last into perfect repose4 ,this will take time1 but the good results will appear not only in your riding1 but also in your walking and in your dancing4 ,you and ,nell might practise these ,delsarte exercises together1 for no especial dress is needed for them1 and companionship will remove the danger of the dulness which1 it must be admitted1 sometimes besets the amateur1 unsustained by the artist's patient energy4 ,before you take another class lesson1 you may have an exercise ride1 in which to practise what you have learned4 ,tried to learn6 do you say8 ,well1 really1 ,esmeralda1 one begins to have hopes of you6 ,x4 --,ye couldn't have made him a rider1 ,and then ye know1 boys will be boys1 and hosses1 --well1 hosses is hosses6 ,harte4 ,when you and ,nell go to take your exercise ride1 ,esmeralda1 you must assume the air of having ridden before you were able to walk1 and of being so replete with equestrian knowledge that the acquisition of another detail would cause immediate dissolution1 as the ,normal college girl said when asked if she knew how to teach4 ,you must insist on having a certain horse1 no matter ho much inconvenience it may create1 and1 if possible1 you should order him twenty-four hours in advance1 stipulating that nobody shall mount him in the interval1 and1 while waiting for him to be brought from the stable1 you should proclaim that he is a wonderfully spirited1 not to say vicious1 creature1 but that you are not in the smallest degree afraid of him4 ,you should pick up your reins with easy grace1 and having twisted them into a hopeless snarl1 should explain to any spectator who may presume to smile that one very soon forgets the little things1 you know1 but they will come back in a little while4 ,having started1 you must choose between steadily trotting or rapidly cantering1 absolutely regardless of the rights or wishes of any one else1 or else you must hold your horse to a spiritless crawl1 carefully keeping him in such a position as to prevent anybody else from outspeeding you4 ,if you were a man1 you would feel it incumbent on you to entreat your master to permit you to change horses with him1 and would give him certain valuable information1 derived from quarters vaguely specified as a person who knows1 or a man who rides a great deal4 meaning somebody who is in the saddle twenty times a year1 and duly pays his livery stable bill for the privilege1 and you would confide in some other exercise rider1 if possible1 in the hearing of seven or eight pupils1 that your master was not much of a rider after all1 that the natural rider is best1 and you would insinuate that to observe perfection it was only necessary to look at you4 ,if1 in addition to this1 you could intimate to any worried or impatient pupils that they had not been properly taught1 you would make yourself generally beloved1 and these are the ways of the casual exercise rider1 male and female4 ,but you1 ,esmeralda1 are slightly unfitted for the perfect assumption of this part by knowing how certain things ought to be done1 although you cannot do them1 and alas6 you are not yet adapted to the humbler but prettier character of the real exercise rider1 who is thoroughly taught1 and whose every movement is a pleasure to behold4 ,there are many such women and a few men who prefer the ring to the road for various reasons1 and from them you may learn much1 both by observation and from the hints which many of them will give you if they find that you are anxious to learn1 and that you are really nothing more pretentious than a solitary student4 ,so into the saddle you go1 and you and ,nell begin to walk about in company4 ,in company1 indeed1 for about half a round1 and then you begin to fall behind4 ,touching your ,abdallah lightly with whip and heel starts him into a trot and coming up beside ,nell you start off her ,arab1 and both horses are rather astonished to be checked4 ,what do these girls want1 they think1 and when you fall behind again1 it takes too strokes of the whip to urge ,abdallah forward1 ,arab is unmoved by your passing him1 and you find the breadth of the ring dividing you and ,nell4 ,you pause1 she turns to the right1 crosses the space between you1 turns again and is by your side1 and now both of you begin to see what you must do4 ,nell1 who is riding on the inside1 that is to say on the included square1 must check her horse very slightly after turning each corner1 and you must hasten yours a little before turning1 and a little after1 so as to give her sufficient space to turn1 and1 at the same time1 to keep up with her4 ,you1 being on her left1 must be very careful every moment to have a firm hold of your left rein1 so as to keep away from her feet1 and she must keep especial watch of her right rein in order to guard herself4 ,after each of you has learned her part pretty well1 you should exchange places and try again1 and then have a round or two of trotting1 keeping your horses' heads in line4 ,you will find both of them very tractable to this discipline1 because accustomed to having your master's horse keep pace with them1 and because they often go in pairs at the music rides1 and you must not expect that an ordinary livery stable horse would be as easily managed4 ,it is rather fashionable to sneer at the riding-school horse as too mild for the use of a good rider1 and very likely1 while you and ,nell are patiently trying your little experiment1 you will hear a youth with very evident straps on his trousers1 superciliously requesting to have something spirited brought in from the stable for him4 ,not one of your school horses1 taught to tramp a treadmill round1 but a regular flyer1 he explains4 ,is he a very good rider8 you ask your master4 ,last time he was hear ,i had to take him off ,abdallah1 he says sadly1 and then he goes to the mounting-stand to deny the regular flyer1 and to tender instead1 an animal that we don't give to everybody1 ,william4 ,enter ,william1 otherwise ,billy ,buttons1 whom the gentleman covetous of a flyer soon finds to be enough for him to manage1 because ,william1 although accustomed to riders awkward through weakness1 is not used to the manners of what is called the three-legged trotter2 that is to say1 the man whose unbent arms and tightened reins make a straight line from his shoulders to his horse's mouth1 while his whole weight is thrown upon the reins by a backward inclination of his body4 ,if you would like to know how ,billy feels about it1 ,esmeralda1 bend your chin toward your throat1 and imagine a bar of iron placed across your tongue and pulling your head upward4 ,it would hurt you1 but you could raise your head and still go forward1 making wild gestures with your hands1 kicking1 perhaps1 in a ladylike manner1 as ,gail ,hamilton kicked ,halicarnassus1 but by no means stopping4 ,now suppose that bar of iron drawn backward by reins passing one on each side of your shoulders and held firmly between your scapulae2 you could not go forward without almost breaking your neck1 could you8 ,no more could ,billy1 if his rider would let out his reins1 bend his elbows1 and hold his hands low1 almost touching his saddle1 but1 as it is1 he goes on1 and if he should rear by and by1 and if his rider should slide off1 be not alarmed4 ,the three-legged trotter is not the kind of horseman to cling to his reins1 and he will not be dragged1 and ,billy is too good-tempered not to stop the moment he has rid himself of his tormentor4 ,but while he is still on ,billy's back1 and flattering himself that he is doing wonders in subjugating the horse that we don't give to everybody1 do you and ,nell go to the centre of the ring and see if you can stop properly4 ,pretty well done1 but wait a moment before trying it again1 for it is not pleasant to a horse4 ,sit still a few minutes1 and then try and see if you can back your horse a step or two4 ,in order to do this1 it is not enough to sit up straight and to say back1 or even to say bake1 which1 according to certain natural riders1 is the secret of having the movement executed properly4 ,you must draw yourself up and lean backward1 touching your horse both with your foot and with your whip1 in order that he may stand squarely1 and you must raise your wrists a little1 and the same time turning them inward4 ,the horse will take a step1 you must instantly sit up straight1 lower your hands1 and then repeat the movement until he has backed far enough4 ,four steps will be quite as many as you should try when working thus by yourself1 because you do not wish to form any bad habits1 and your master will probably find much to criticise in your way of executing the movement4 ,the most that you can do for yourself is to be sure that ,abdallah makes but one step for each of your demands4 ,if he make two1 lower your hands1 and make him go forward1 for a horse that backs unbidden is always troublesome and may sometimes be dangerous4 ,just watch that man on ,billy ,buttons1 says your master1 coming up to you1 and make up your minds never to do anything that you see him do4 ,and look at those two ladies who are mounting now1 and see how well it is possible to ride without being taught in school1 provided one rides enough4 ,they cannot trot a rod1 but they have often been in the saddle half a day at a time in ,spanish ,america1 whence they come1 and they can 'lope1' as they call it1 for hours without drawing rein4 ,they sit almost1 but not quite straight1 and they have strength enough in their hands to control any of our horses1 although they complain that these ,english bits are poor things compared to the ,spanish bit4 ,you see1 they can stay on1 although they cannot ride scientifically4 ,and isn't that best8 asked ,nell4 ,it is better1 corrects the master4 ,the very best is to stay on because one rides scientifically1 and that is what ,i hope that you two will do by and by4 ,there's that girl who always brings in bags of groceries for her horse6 ,apples this time6 ,isn't it a good thing to give a horse a tidbit of some kind after a ride8 asked ,nell4 ',good1' if it be your own horse1 but not good in a riding- school4 ,it tends to make the horses impatient for the end of a ride1 and sometimes makes them jealous of one another at the mounting-stand1 and keeps them there so long as to inconvenience others who wish to dismount4 ,besides1 careless pupils1 like that girl1 have a way of tossing a paper bag into the ring after the horse has emptied it1 and although we always pick it up as soon as possible1 it may cause another horse to shy4 ,a dropped handkerchief is also dangerous1 for a horse is a suspicious creature and fears anything novel as a woman dreads a mouse4 ,what is the trouble on the mounting-stand8 ,nothing1 except that a tearful little girl wants her dear ,daisy2 she never rides anything else1 and she hates ,clifton1 and does not like ,rex and ,jewel canters1 and she wants ,da-a-isy6 ,but is it not better for you to change horses now and then1 and ,daisy is not fit to be in the ring to-day1 says your master4 ,jewel is very easy and good-tempered4 ,will you have him8 ,no1 ,i'll have ,abdallah4 ,a lady is riding him4 ,well1 ,i want him4 ,it is against the rules for your master to suggest such a thing to you1 ,esmeralda1 but suppose you go up to the mounting-stand and offer to take ,jewel yourself and let her have ,abdallah4 ,you do it2 your master puts you on ,jewel1 and sends the wilful little girl away on ,abdallah1 and then comes up to you and ,nell1 thanks you1 and says1 ,it was very good of you1 but she must learn some day to ride everything1 and ,i shall tell her so1 and next time6 ,he looks capable of giving her ,hector1 ,irish ,hector1 who is wilful as the wind1 but in reward for your goodness he bestows a little warning about your whips upon ,nell1 who has a fancy for carrying hers slantwise across her body1 so that both ends show from the back1 and the whole whip is quite useless as far as the horse is concerned1 although picturesque enough with its loop of bright ribbon4 ,it makes one think of a circus picture1 he says2 and1 ,miss ,esmeralda1 don't hold your whip with the lash pointing outward1 to tickle ,miss ,nell's horse1 and to make you look like an ,american ,mr4 ,briggs 'going to take a run with the ,myopias1 don't you know4' ,isn't this a pretty horse8 ,well1 ,i don't know1 you say frankly2 ,i'm no judge4 ,i don't know anything about a horse4 ,for once your master loses his self-possession1 and stares unreservedly4 ,child1 he says1 ,i never1 never before saw anybody in this ring who didn't know all about a horse4 ,well1 but ,i really don't1 you know4 ,no1 but nobody ever says so4 ,now just hear this new pupil instruct me4 ,the new pupil1 who thinks a riding habit should be worn over two or three skirts1 and is consequently sitting with the aerial elegance of a feather bed1 is riding with her snaffle rein1 the curb tied on her horse's neck1 and is clasping it by the centre1 allowing the rest to hang loose1 so that ,clifton1 supposing that she means to give him liberty to browse1 is looking for grass among the tan4 ,not finding it1 he snorts occasionally1 whereupon she calls him poor thing1 and tells him that it is a warm day1 and that he should rest1 so he should6 ,your reins are too long1 says your master4 ,do you mean that they are too long1 or that ,i am holding them so as to make them too long1 she inquires1 in a precise manner4 ,they are right enough4 ,our saddlers know their business4 ,but you are holding them so that you might as well have none4 ,shorten them1 and make him bring his head up in its proper place4 ,but ,i think it's cruel to treat him so1 when he's tired1 poor thing6 ,i always hold my reins in the middle when ,i'm driving1 and my horse goes straight enough4 ,this one seems dizzy4 ,he goes round and round4 ,he wouldn't if he were in harness with two shafts to keep his head straight-- ,but then why wouldn't it be a good thing to have some kind of a light shaft for a beginner's horse8 ,it would be a neat addition to a side saddle1 says your master1 but shorten your reins4 ,take one in each hand4 ,leave about eight inches of rein between your hands4 ,there6 ,see4 ,now ,guide your horse4 ,he leaves her1 in order that he may enjoy the idea of the side saddle with shafts1 and she promptly resumes her old attitude which she feels is elegant1 and when ,clifton wanders up beside ,abdallah1 she sweetly asks ,nell1 ,is this your first lesson8 ,do you think this horse is good8 ,the master wants me to pull on my reins1 but ,i think it is inhuman1 and ,i won't1 and--but ,clifton strays out of hearing1 and your arouse yourselves to remember that you are having more fun than work4 ,there is plenty of room in the ring1 now1 so you change hands1 and circle to the left1 first walking and then trotting1 slowly at first1 and then rapidly1 finding to your pleasant surprise1 that1 just as you begin to think that you can go no further1 you are suddenly endowed with new strength and can make two more rounds4 ,a good half mile1 your master says1 approvingly1 as you fall into a walk and pass him1 and then you do a volte or two1 and one little round at a canter1 and then walk five minutes1 and dismount to find the rider of the alleged ,william assuring ,john1 the head groom1 that redoubtable animal needs taking down4 ,shall ride him with spurs next time1 he says4 ,i can manage him1 but he would be too much for most men1 and away he goes and a flute-voiced little boy of eight mounts ,william1 retransformed into ,billy ,buttons1 and guides him like a lamb1 and you escape up stairs to laugh4 ,but you have no time for this before the merciful young woman enters to say that she is going to another school1 where she can do as she pleases and have better horses1 too1 and the more you and ,nell assure her that there is no school in which she can learn without obedience1 and that her horse was too good1 if anything1 the more determined she becomes1 and soon you wisely desist4 ,as she departs1 ,oh1 dear1 you say1 ,i thought there was nothing but fun at riding-school1 and just see all these queer folks4 ,my dear1 says philosophic ,nell1 they ar part of the fun4 ,and we are fun to the old riders2 and we are all fun to our master4 ,here you find yourselves enjoying a bit of fun from which your master is shut out1 for three or four girls come up from the ring together1 and1 not seeing you1 hidden behind your screens1 two1 in whom you and ,nell have already recognized saleswomen from whom you have more than once bought laces1 begin to talk to overawe the others4 ,my deah1 says one1 now ,i think of it1 ,i weally don't like the setting of these diamonds that you had given you last night4 ,it's too heavy1 don't you think8 ,the other replies in a tone which would cheat a man1 but in which you instantly detect an accent of surprise and a determination to play up to her partner as well as possible1 that she liked it very well4 ,i should have them reset1 says the former speaker4 ,like mine1 you know2 light and airy4 ,deah me1 ,i usedn't to care for diamonds1 and now ,i'm puffectly infatooated with them1 don't you know6 ,my6 she screams1 catching sight of a church clock1 and1 relapsing into her everyday speech3 ,half-past four6 ,and ,i am due at--,an awkward pause4 ,i promised to return at four6 ,there is no more talk about diamonds1 but a hurried scramble to dress1 an a precipitate departure1 after which one of the other ladies is heard to say very distinctly3 ,i remember that girl as a pupil when ,i was teaching in a public school1 and ,i know all about her4 ,salary1 four dollars a week4 ,diamonds6 ,she registered at the desk as ,mrs4 ,something1 rejoins the other4 ,she only came in for one ride1 and so they gave her a horse without looking up her reference1 but one of the masters knew her real name4 ,poor little goosey6 ,she has simply spoiled her chance of ever becoming a regular pupil1 no matter how much she may desire it4 ,no riding master will give lessons to a person who behaves so4 ,he would lose more than he gained by it1 no matter how long she took lessons4 ,and they know everybody in a riding-school1 although they won't gossip4 ,i'd as soon try to cheat a ,pinkerton agency4 ,i know one thing1 ,nell says1 as you walk homeward3 ,i'm going to take an exercise ride between every two lessons1 and ,i'm going to ride a new horse every time1 if ,i can get him1 and ,i'm going to do what ,i'm told1 and ,i shall not stop trotting at the next lesson1 even if ,i feel as if ,i should drop out of the saddle4 ,i've learned so much from an exercise ride4 ,,xi4 ,ride as though you were flying4 ,mrs4 ,norton4 ,cross1 ,esmeralda8 ,why8 ,because having had seven lessons of various sorts1 and two rides1 you do not feel yourself to be a brilliant horsewoman8 ,because you cannot trot more than half a mile1 and because you cannot flatter yourself that it would be prudent for you to imitate your favorite ,english heroines1 and to order your horse brought around to the hall door for a solitary morning canter8 ,and you really think that you do well to be angry1 and that1 had your teacher been as discreet and as entirely admirable as you feel yourself to be1 you would be more skilful and better informed8 ,very well1 continue to think so1 but pray do not flatter yourself that your mental attitude has the very smallest fragment of an original line1 curve or angle4 ,thus1 and not otherwise1 do all youthful equestrians feel1 excepting those doubly-dyed in conceit1 who fancy that they have mastered a whole art in less than twelve hours4 ,you certainly are not a good rider1 and yet you have received instruction on almost every point in regard to which you would need to know anything in an ordinary ride on a good road4 ,you have not yet been taught every one of these things1 certainly1 for she who has been really taught a physical or mental feat1 can execute it at will1 but you have been partly instructed1 and it is yours to see that the instruction is not wasted1 by not being either repeated1 or faithfully reduced to practice4 ,remember clever ,mrs4 ,wesley's answer to the unwise person who said in reproof1 ,you have told that thing to that child thirty times4 ,had ,i told it but twenty-nine1 replied the indomitable ,susanna1 they had been wasted4 ,what you need now is practice1 preferably in the ring with a teacher1 but if you cannot afford that1 without a teacher1 and road rides whenever you can have them on a safe horse1 taken from a school stable1 if possible1 with companions like yourself1 intent upon study and enjoyment1 not upon displaying their habits1 or1 if they be men1 the airs of their horses1 and the correctness of their equipment1 or upon racing4 ,as for the solitary canter1 when the kindly ,fates shall endow that respectable ,american sovereign1 your father1 with a park somewhat bigger than the seventy-five square feet of ground inclosed by an iron railing before his present palace1 it will be time enough to think about that2 but you can no more venture upon a public road alone than an ,english lady could1 and indeed1 your risk in doing so would be even greater than hers4 ,why8 ,because in rural ,england all men and boys1 even the poorest and the humblest1 seem to know instinctively how a horse should be equipped4 ,true1 a ,wordsworth or a ,coleridge did hesitate for hours over the problem of adjusting a horse collar1 but ,johnny ,ragamuffin1 from the slums1 or ,jerry ,hickathrift1 of some shire with the most uncouth of dialects1 can adjust a slipping saddle1 or1 in a hand's turn1 can remove a stone which is torturing a hoof4 ,not so your ,american wayfarer1 city bred or country grown2 it will be wonderful if he can lengthen a stirrup leather1 ad1 before allowing such an one to tighten a girth for you1 you would better alight and take shelter behind a tree1 and a good large tree1 because he may drive your horse half frantic by his well- meant unskilfulness4 ,besides1 ,mrs4 ,grundy very severely frowns on the woman who rides alone1 and there is no appeal from ,mrs4 ,grundy's wisdom4 ,sneer at her1 deride her1 try1 if you will1 to undermine her authority1 but obey her commands and yield to her judgment if you would have the respect of men1 and1 what is of more consequence1 the fair speech of women4 ,and so1 ,esmeralda1 as you really have no cause for repining1 go away to your class lesson1 which has a double interest for you and ,nell1 because of the wicked pleasure which you derive from hearing the master quietly crush the society young lady with unanswerable logic4 ,you have seen him with a class of disobedient1 well-bred little girls1 and know how persuasive he can be to a child who is really frightened4 ,you have seen him surrounded by a class of eager small goys1 and beset with a clamorous shout of1 ,plea-ease let us mount from the ground4 ,you have heard his peremptory ,no1 and then1 as they turned away discomfited1 have noted how kindly was his ,i will tell you why1 my dear boys4 ,it is because your legs are too short4 ,wait until you are tall1 then you shall mount4 ,you know that when ,versatilia1 having attended a party the previous evening and arisen at five o'clock to practise ,chopin1 and then worked an hour at gymnastics1 could not1 from pure weariness1 manage her horse1 how swift was his bound across the ring1 and how carefully he lifted her from the saddle1 and gave her over to the ministrations of the wise fairy4 ,you know that any teacher must extract respect from his scholars1 and you detect method in all the little sallies which almost drive the society young lady to madness1 but this morning it is your turn4 ,you do1 one after the other1 all the things against which you have been warned1 and1 when corrected1 you look so very dismal and discouraged that the ,scotch teacher comes quietly to your side and rides with you1 and1 feeling that he will prevent your horse from doing anything dangerous1 you begin to mend your ways1 when suddenly you hear the master proclaim in a voice which1 to your horrified ears1 seems audible to the whole universe3 ,ah1 ,miss ,esmeralda6 she cannot ride1 she cannot do her best1 unless she has a gentleman beside her4 ,in fancy's eye you seem to see yourself blushing for that criticism during the remainder of your allotted days1 and you almost hope that they will be few4 ,you know that every other girl in the class will repeat it to other girls1 and even to men1 and possibly even to ,theodore1 and that you will never be allowed to forget it4 ,cannot ride or do your best without a gentleman1 indeed6 ,you could do very well without one gentleman whom you know1 you think vengefully1 and then you turn to the kindly ,scotch teacher1 and1 with true feminine justice1 endeavor to punish him for another's misdeeds by telling him that1 if he please1 you would prefer to ride alone4 ,as he reins back1 you feel a decided sinking of the heart and again become conscious that you are oddly incapable of doing anything properly1 and then1 suddenly1 it flashes upon you that the master was right in his judgment1 and you fly into a small fury of determination to show him that you can exist without a gentleman4 ,down go your hands1 you straighten your shoulders1 adjust yourself to a nicety1 think of yourself and of your horse with all the intensity of which you are capable1 and make two or three rounds without reproof4 ,now1 says the teacher1 we will try a rather longer trot than usual1 and when any lady is tired she may go to the centre of the ring4 ,prepare to trot6 ,trot6 ,the leader's eyes sparkle with delight as she allows her good horse1 after a round or two1 to take his own speed1 the teacher continues his usual fire of truthful comments as to shoulders1 hands and reins1 and one after another1 the girls leave the track1 and only the leader and you remain1 she1 calm and cool as an iceberg1 you1 flushed1 and compelled to correct your position at almost every stride of your horse1 sometimes obliged to sit close for half a round1 but with your whole ,yankee soul set upon trotting until your master bids you cease4 ,can you believe your ears8 ,brava1 ,miss ,esmeralda6 shouts the master4 ,go in again4 ,that is the way4 ,ah1 go in again6 ,that is the way the rider is made6 ,again6 ,ah1 brava6 ,prepare to whoa6 ,whoa6 says the teacher1 and both he and your banished cavalier congratulate you1 and it dawns upon you that the society young lady is not the only person whom the master understands1 and is able to manage4 ,however1 you are grateful1 and even pluck up courage to salute him when next you pass him2 but alas6 that does not soften his heart so thoroughly that he does not warningly ejaculate1 ,right foot1 and then comes poor ,nell's turn4 ,she1 reared in a select private school for young ladies1 and having no idea of proper discipline1 ventures to explain the cause of some one of her misdeeds1 instead of correcting it in silence4 ,she does it courteously1 but is met with1 ,ah-h-h6 ,miss ,esmeralda1 you know ,miss ,nell4 ,is it not with her on foot as it is on horseback8 ,does she not argue8 ,you shake your head severely and loyally1 but brave ,nell speaks out frankly1 ,yes1 sir2 ,i do4 ,but ,i won't again4 ,i would have liked to ride straight at him1 she confides to you afterwards1 but he was right4 ,still1 it is rather astounding to hear the truth sometimes4 ,and now1 for the first time around1 you are allowed to ride in pairs1 and the word interval1 meaning the space between two horses moving in parallel lines1 is introduced1 and you and ,nell1 who are together1 congratulate yourselves on having in your exercise ride learned something of the manner in which the interval may be preserved exactly1 for it is a greater trouble to the others than that distance which you have been told a thousand times to keep4 ,you have but very little of this practice1 however1 before you are again formed in file1 and directed to ,prepare to volte singly6 ,when this is done perfectly1 it is a very pretty manoeuvre1 and1 the pupils returning to their places at the same movement1 the column continues on its way with its distances perfectly preserved1 but as no two of your class make circles of the same size1 or move at similar rates of speed1 your small procession finds itself in hopeless disorder1 and in trying to rearrange yourselves1 each one of you discovers that she has yet something to learn about turning4 ,however1 after a little trot and the usual closing walk1 the lesson ends1 and you retire from the ring1 with the exception of ,nell1 who1 having been taught by an amateur to leap in a more or less unscientific manner1 has begged the master to give her one little lesson1 a proposition to which he has consented4 ,the hurdle is brought out1 placed half-way down one of the long sides of the school1 and ,nell walks her horse quietly down the other1 turns him again as she comes on the second long side1 shakes her reins lightly1 putting him to a canter1 and is over-- beautifully1 as you say to yourself1 as you watch her enviously4 ,you did not fall off1 the master comments1 coiling the lash of the long whip with which he has stood beside the hurdle during ,miss ,nell's performance1 but you did not guard yourself against falling when you went up1 and had you had some horses1 you might have come down before he did1 although that is not so easy for a lady as it is for a man4 ,when you start for a leap1 you must draw your right foot well back1 so as to clasp the pommel with your knee1 and just as the horse stops to spring upward1 you must lean back and lift both hands a little1 and then1 when he springs1 straighten yourself1 feel proud and haughty1 if you can1 and1 as he comes down1 lean back once more and raise your hands again1 because your horse will drop on his fore legs1 and you desire him to lift them1 that he may go forward before you do4 ,you should practise this1 counting one1 as you lean backward1 drawing but not turning the hands backward and upward2 two1 as you straighten yourself wit the hands down1 and three1 as you repeat the first movement2 and1 except in making a water jump1 or some other very long leap1 the 'two' will be the shortest beat1 as it is in the waltz4 ,and1 although you must use some strength in raising your hands1 you must not raise them too high1 and you must not lean your head forward or draw your elbows back4 ,a jockey may1 when riding in a steeplechase for money1 but he will be angry with himself for having to do it1 and a lady must not4 ,i would rather that you did not leap again to-day1 because what ,i told you will only confuse you until you have time to think it over and to practise it by yourself in a chair4 ,and ,i would rather that you did not leap again in your own way1 until you have let me see you do it once or twice more1 at least4 ,you did not have to whip my horse to make him leap1 ,nell says1 ,the whip was not to strike him1 but to show him what was ready for him if he refused1 says the master4 ,one must never permit a horse to refuse without punishing bum1 for otherwise he may repeat the fault when mounted by a poor rider1 and a dangerous accident may follow4 ,one must never brutalize a horse--indeed1 no one but a brute does--but one must rule him4 ,by this time he has taken ,nell from her saddle and is in the reception room where he finds you grouped and gazing at him in a manner rather trying even to his soldierly gravity1 and decidedly amusing to the wise fairy1 who glances at him with a laugh and betakes herself to her own little nest4 ,my young ladies1 he says4 ,i will show you one little leap1 not high1 you know1 but a little leap sitting on a side saddle1 and1 going out1 he takes ,nell's horse1 and in a minute you see him sailing through the air1 light as a bird1 and without any of the encouraging shouts used by some horsemen4 ,it is only a little leap1 but it impresses your illogical minds as no skilfulness in the voltes and no haute ecole airs could do1 for leaping is the crowning accomplishment of riding in the eyes of all your male friends except the cavalryman1 and when he returns to the reception room1 you linger in the hope of a little lecture1 and you are not disappointed4 ,my young ladies1 he says1 at the point at which you are in the equestrian art1 what you should do is to keep doing what you know1 over and over again1 no matter if you do it wrong4 ,keep doing and doing1 and by and by you will do it right4 ,i have tried that plan of perfecting each step before undertaking another1 but it is of no use with ,american ladies4 ,you will not do things at all1 unless you can do them well1 you say4 ,that is to say if you were to go to a ball1 and were to say1 ',no1 ,i have taken lessons1 ,i have danced in school1 but ,i am afraid ,i cannot do so well as some others4 ,i will not dance here4' ,that would not be the way to do4 ,dance1 and again dance1 and if you make a little mistake1 dance again6 ,the mistake is of the past2 it is not matter for troubling2 dance again1 and do not make it again4 ,and so of riding1 ride1 and again ride6 ,try all ways4 ,take your foot out of the stirrup sometimes1 and slip it back again without stopping your horse1 and when you can do it at the walk1 do it at the trot1 and keep rising6 ,and learn not to be afraid to keep trotting after you are a little tired4 ,keep trotting6 ,keep trotting6 ,then you will know real pleasure1 and you will not hurt your horses1 as you will if you pull them up just as they begin to enjoy the pace4 ,and then--looking very hard at nothing at all1 and not at you1 ,esmeralda1 as your guilty soul fancies-- and then1 gentlemen will not be afraid to ride with you for fear of spoiling their horses by checking them too often4 ,and with this he goes away1 and on6 ,esmeralda1 does not the society young lady make life pleasant for you and ,nell in the dressing-room1 until the beauty attracts general attention by stating that she has had an hour of torment6 ,perhaps you have not noticed that most of these saddles are buckskin1 she continues2 ,i did not1 until ,i found myself slipping about on mine to day as if it were glazed1 and lo6 ,it was pigskin1 and that made the difference4 ,i would not have it changed1 because the ,texan is always sneering at ,english pigskin1 and ,i wanted to learn to ride on it2 but1 until the last quarter of the hour1 ,i expected to slip off4 ,i rather think ,i should have1 she adds1 only just as ,i was ready to slip off on one side1 something would occur to make me slip to the other4 ,i shall not be afraid of pigskin again1 ad you would better try it1 every one of you4 ,suppose you should get a horse from a livery stable some day with one of those slippery saddles6 ,i am thinking of buying a horse1 says the society young lad2 but the master says that ,i do not know enough to ride a beast that has been really trained4 ,fancy that6 ,and all the authorities agree with him1 says ,versatilia1 who has accumulated a small library of books on equestrianism since she began to take lessons4 ,your horse ought not to know much more than you do--for if he do1 you will find him perfectly unmanageable4 ,here you and ,nell flee on the wings of discretion4 ,the daring of the girl6 ,to tell the society young lady that a horse may know more than she does6 ,,xii4 ,costly thy habit as thy purse can buy4 ,shakespeare4 ,and now1 ,esmeralda1 having determined to put your master's advice into practice and to keep riding1 you think that you must have a habit in order to be ready to take to the road whenever you have an opportunity1 and to be able to accompany ,theodore1 should he desire to repeat your music-ride8 ,and you would like to know just what it will cost1 and everything about it8 ,and first1 what color can you have8 ,you can have any color1 ,esmeralda1 and you can have any material1 for that matter4 ,queen ,guinevere wore grass green silk1 and if her skirt were as long as those worn by ,matilda of ,flanders1 ,norman ,william's wife1 centuries after1 her women must have spent several hours daily in mending it1 unless she had a new habit for every ride1 or unless the ,english forest roads were wider than they are to-day4 ,but all the ladies of ,arthur's court seem to have ridden in their ordinary dress4 ,enid1 for instance1 was arrayed in the faded silk which had been her house-dress and waking-dress in girlhood1 when she performed her little feat of guiding six armor-laden horses4 ,queen ,elizabeth and ,mary ,stuart seem to have liked velvet1 either green or black1 and to have adorned it with gold lace1 and both probably took their fashions form ,france2 the young woman in the ,scotch ballad was all in cramoisie2 ,kate ,peyton wore scarlet broadcloth1 but secretly longed for purple1 having been told by a rival1 who had probably found her too pretty for scarlet1 that green or purple was her color4 ,there are crimson velvet and dark blue velvet and ,lincoln green velvet habits without end in fiction1 and in the records of ,english royal wardrobes1 but1 beautiful as velvet is1 and exquisitely becoming as it would be1 you would better not indulge your artistic taste by wearing it4 ,it would cost almost three times as much as cloth2 it would be nearly impossible to make a well fitting modern skirt of it1 and it would be worn into ugliness by a very few hours of trotting4 ,be thankful1 therefore1 that fashion says that woollen cloth is the most costly material that may be used4 ,in ,india1 during the last two or three seasons1 ,englishwomen have worn ,london-made habits of very light stuffs1 mohairs and fine ,bradford woollens1 and there is no reason why any ,american woman should not do the same4 ,in ,hyde ,park1 for three summers1 in those early morning hours when some of the best riders go1 attended by a groom1 to enjoy something more lively than the afternoon parade1 skirts of light tweed and covert coats of the same material worn over white silk shirts1 with linen collars and a man's tie1 have made their wearers look cool and comfortable1 and duck covert jackets1 with ordinary woollen skirts have had a similar effect1 but ,american women have rather hesitated as to adopting these fashions1 lest some one1 beholding1 should say that they were not correct4 ,thus did they once think that they must wear bonnets with strings in church1 no matter what remonstrance was made by the thermometer1 or how surely they were deafened to psalm and sermon by longing for the cool1 comfortable hats1 which certain wise persons had decided were too frivolous for the sanctuary4 ,new ,york girls have worn white cloth habits at ,lenox without shocking the moral sense of the inhabitants1 but ,lenox1 during the season1 probably contains a smaller percentage of simpletons than any village in the ,united ,states1 and some daring ,boston girls have appeared this year in cool and elegant habits of shepherd's check1 and have pleased every good judge who has seen them4 ,if quite sure that you have as much common sense and independence as these young ladies1 imitate them1 but if not1 wear the regulation close1 dark cloth habit throughout the year1 be uncomfortable1 and lose half the benefit of your summer rides from becoming overheated1 to say nothing of being unable to keep trotting as long as you could if suitably clothed for exercise4 ,but might you not1 if your habit were thin1 catch cold while your horse was walking8 ,you might if you tried1 but probably you would not be in a state so susceptible to that disaster as you would if heavily dressed4 ,there is little danger that the temperature will change so much during a three hours' ride that you cannot keep yourself sufficiently warm for comfort and for safety1 and if you start for a long excursion1 you must use your common sense4 ,the best and least expensive way of solving the difficulty is to have an ordinary habit1 with the waist and skirt separate1 and to wear a lighter coat1 with a habit shirt1 or with a habit shirt and waistcoat1 whenever something lighter is desirable4 ,this plan gives three changes of dress1 which should be enough for any reasonable girl4 ,but still1 you do not know what color you can wear8 ,black is suitable for all hours and all places1 even for an ,english fox hunt1 although the addition of a scarlet waistcoat1 just visible at the throat and below the waist1 is desirable for the field4 ,dark blue1 dark green1 dark brown are suitable for most occasions1 and a riding master whose experience has made him acquainted with the dress worn in the principal ,european capitals1 declares his preference for gray with a white waistcoat4 ,among the habits shown by ,english tailors at the ,french exhibition of #ahi1 was one of blue gray1 and a ,paris tailor displayed a tan-colored habit made with a coat and waistcoat revealing a white shirt front4 ,london women are now wearing white waistcoats and white ties in the ,park1 both tie and waistcoat as stiff and masculine as possible4 ,this affectation of adopting men's dress1 when riding1 is comparatively modern4 ,sir ,walter gives the date in ,rob ,roy1 when ,mr4 ,francis sees ,diana for the first time and notices that she wears a coat1 vest and hat resembling those of a man1 a mode introduced during my absence in ,france1 he says1 and perfectly new to me4 ,but this coat had the collar and wide sharply pointed lapels and deep cuffs now known as directoire1 and its skirts were full1 and so long that they touched the right side of the saddle1 and skirts1 lapels1 collar and cuffs were trimmed with gold braid almost an inch wide4 ,the waistcoat1 the vest1 as ,sir ,walter calls it1 not knowing the risk that he ran in this half century of being considered as speaking ,american1 had a smaller1 but similar1 collar and lapels1 work outside those of the coat1 and the man's tie was of soft white muslin1 and a muslin sleeve and ruffles were visible at the wrists4 ,the hat was very broad brimmed1 and was worn set back from the forehead1 and bent into coquettish curves1 and altogether the fair ,diana might depend upon having a very long following of astonished gazers if she should ride down ,beacon ,street or appear in ,central ,park to-day4 ,your habit shall not be like hers1 ,esmeralda1 but shall have a plain waist1 made as long as you can possibly wear it while sitting1 slightly pointed in front and curving upward at the side to a point about half an inch below that where the belt of your skirt fastens1 and having a very small and perfectly flat postilion1 or the new ,english round back4 ,elizabeth of ,austria may wear a princess habit1 if it please her1 but would you1 ,esmeralda1 be prepared1 in order to have your habit fit properly1 to postpone buttoning it until after you were placed in the saddle1 as she was accustomed to do in the happy days when she could forget her imperial state in her long wild gallops across the beautiful ,irish hunting counties8 ,the sleeves shall not be so tight that you can feel them1 nor shall the armholes be so close as to prevent you from clasping your hands above your head with your arms extended at full length1 and the waist shall be loose4 ,if you go to a tailor1 ,esmeralda1 prepare yourself to make a firm stand on this point4 ,warn him1 in as few words as possible1 that you will not take the habit out of his shop unless it suits you1 and do not allow yourself to be overawed by the list of his patrons1 all of whom wear their habits far tighter1 ma'am4 ,unless you can draw a full1 deep breath with your habit buttoned1 you cannot do yourself or your teacher any credit in trotting1 and you will sometimes find yourself compelled to give your escort the appearance of being discourteous by drawing rein suddenly1 leaving him1 unwarned1 to trot on1 apparently disregarding your plight4 ,both your horse and his will resent your action1 and unless he resemble both ,moses and ,job more strongly than most ,americans1 he will have a few words to say in regard to it1 after you have repeated it once or twice4 ,and1 lastly1 ,esmeralda1 no riding master with any sense of duty will allow you to wear such a habit in his presence without telling you his opinion of it1 and stating his reasons for objecting to it1 and you best know whether or not a little lecture of that sort will be agreeable1 especially if delivered in the presence of other women4 ,warn your tailor of your determination1 then1 and if his devotion to his ideal should compel him to decline your patronage1 go to another1 until you find one who will be content not to transform you into the likeness of a wooden doll4 ,women are not made to advertise tailors1 whatever the tailors may think4 ,what must you pay for your habit8 ,you may pay three hundred dollars1 if you like1 although that price is seldom charged1 unless to customers who seem desirous of paying if1 but the usual scale runs downward from one hundred and fifty dollars4 ,this includes cloth and all other materials1 and finish as perfect within as without1 and is not dear1 considering the retail price of cloth1 the careful making1 and the touch of style which only practised hands can give4 ,the heavy meltons worn for hunting habits in ,england cost seven dollars a yard2 ,english tweeds which have come into vogue during the last few years in ,london1 cost six dollars1 broadcloth five dollars2 rough1 uncut cheviots1 about six dollars2 and shepherds' checks1 single width1 about two dollars and a half4 ,for waistcoats1 duck costs two dollars and a quarter a yard1 and fancy flannels and ,tattersall checks anywhere from one dollar and a half to two dollars4 ,the heavy cloths are the most economical in the end1 because they do not wear out where the skirt is stretched over the pommel1 the point at which a light material is very soon in tatters4 ,the small1 flat buttons cost twenty-five cents a dozen2 the fine black sateen used for linings may be bought for thirty-five cents a yard1 and canvas for interlinings for twenty-five cents4 ,with these figures you may easily make your own computations as to the cost of material1 for unless a woman is more than common tall1 two yards and a half will be more than enough for her habit skirt1 which should not rest an inch on the ground on the left side when she stands1 and should not be more than a quarter of a yard longer in its longest part4 ,two lengths1 with allowance for the hem two inches deep are needed for the skirt1 and when very heavy melton is used1 the edges are left raw1 the perfect riding skirt in modern eyes being that which shows no trace of the needle1 an end secured with lighter cloths by pressing all the seams before hemming1 and then very lightly blind-stitching the pointed edges in their proper place4 ,strength is not desirable in the sewing of a habit skirt4 ,it is always possible that one may be thrown1 and the substantial stitching which will hold one to pommel and stirrup may be fatal to life4 ,so hems are constructed to tear away easily1 and seams are run rather than stitched1 or stitched with fine silk1 and the cloth is not too firmly secured to the wide sateen belt4 ,the ,english safety skirts1 invented three or four years ago1 have the seam on the knee-gore open from the knee down to the edge1 and the two breadths are caught together with buttons and elastic loops1 all sewed on very lightly so as to give way easily4 ,the effect of this style of cutting is1 if one be thrown1 to transform one into a flattered or libelous likeness of ,lilian ,russell in her naval uniform1 prepared to scamper away from one's horse1 and from any other creatures with eyes1 but with one's bones unbroken and one's face unscathed by being dragged and pounded over the road1 or by being kicked4 ,for the waist and sleeves1 ,esmeralda1 you will allow as much as for those of your ordinary frocks1 and if you cannot find a fashionable tailor who will consent to adapt himself to your tastes and to your purse1 you may be fortunate enough to find men who have worked in shops1 but who now make habits at home1 charging twenty-five dollars for the work1 and doing it well and faithfully1 although1 of course1 not being able to keep themselves informed as to the latest freaks of ,english fashion by foreign travellers and correspondents1 as their late employers do4 ,there are two or three dressmakers in ,boston and five or six in ,new ,york whose habits fit well1 and are elegant in every particular1 and1 if you can find an old-fashioned tailoress who really knows her business1 and can prepare yourself to tell her about a few special details1 you may obtain a well-fitting waist and skirt at a very reasonable price4 ,of these details the first is that the sateen lining should be black4 ,gay colors are very pretty1 but soon spoiled by perspiration1 and white1 the most fitting lining for a lady's ordinary frock1 is unsuitable for a habit1 since one long1 warm ride may convert it into something very untidy of aspect4 ,this lining1 of which all the seams should be turned toward the outside1 should end at the belt line1 and between it and the cloth outside should be a layer of canvas1 cut and shaped as carefully as possible1 and the whalebones1 each in its covering1 should be sewed between the canvas and the sateen4 ,if a waistcoat be worn1 it should have a double sateen back with canvas interlining1 and may be high in the throat or made with a step collar like that of the waist4 ,the cuffs are simply indicated by stitching and are buttoned on the outside of the sleeve with two or three buttons4 ,simulated waistcoats1 basted firmly to the shoulder seams and under-arm seams of the waist1 and cut high to the throat with an officer collar1 are liked by ladies with a taste for variety1 and are not expensive1 as but for a small quantity of material is required for each one4 ,they are fastened by small hooks except in those parts shown by the openings1 and on these flat or globular pearl buttons are used4 ,when a step collar and a man's tie are worn1 the ordinary high collar and chemisette1 sold for thirty-eight cents1 takes the place of the straight linen band worn with the habit high in the throat1 and the proper tie is the white silk scarf fastened in a four-in-hand knot1 and1 if you be wise1 ,esmeralda you will buy this at a good shop1 and pay two dollars and a quarter for it1 rather than to pay less and repent ever after4 ,some girls wear white lawn evening ties1 but they are really out of place in the saddle1 in which one is supposed to be in morning dress4 ,wear the loosest of collars and cuffs1 and fasten the latter to your habit sleeves with safety pins4 ,the belts of your habit skirt and waist should also be pinned together at the back1 at the sides1 and the front1 unless your tailor has fitted them with hooks and eyes1 and if you be a provident young person1 you will tuck away a few more safety pins1 a hairpin or two1 half a row of the most common pin of ,north ,america1 and a quarter-ounce flash of cologne1 in one of the little leather change pouches1 and put it either in your habit pocket or your saddle pocket4 ,sometimes1 after a dusty ride of an hour or two1 a five-minute halt under the trees by the roadside1 gives opportunity to remove the dust from the face and to cool the hands1 and the cologne is much better than the handkerchief dipped in the pellucid waters of a rippling brook1 a la novelist1 for the pellucid brook of ,massachusetts is very likely to run past a leather factory1 in which case its waters are anything but agreeable4 ,whether or not your habit shall have a pocket is a matter of choice4 ,if it have one1 it should be small and should be on the left side1 just beyond the three flat buttons which fasten the front breadth and side breadth of your habit at the waist4 ,when thus placed1 you can easily reach it with either hand4 ,fitting the habit over the knee is a feat not to be effected by an amateur without a pattern1 and the proper slope and adjustment of the breadths come by art1 not chance2 but ,harper's ,bazaar patterns are easily obtained by mail4 ,the best tailors adjust the skirt while the wearer sits on a side saddle1 and there is no really good substitute for this1 for1 although one my guess fairly well at the fir of the knee1 nothing but actual trial will show whether or not1 when in the saddle1 the left side of the skirt hangs perfectly straight1 concealing the right side1 and leaving the horse's body visible below it4 ,when your skirt is finished1 no matter if it be made by the very best of tailors1 wear it once in the school before you appear on the road with it1 and1 looking in the mirror1 view it with a crocket's eye1 as the little boy said when he appeared on the school platform as an example of the advantages of the wonderful merits of oral instruction4 ,an elastic strap about a quarter of a yard long should be sewed half way between the curved knee seam and the hem1 and should be slipped over the right toe before mounting1 and a second strap1 for the left heel1 should be sewed on the last seam on the under side of the habit1 to be adjusted after the foot is placed in the stirrup4 ,the result of this cutting and arrangement is the straight1 simple1 modern habit which is so great a change from the riding dress of half a century ago1 with its full skirt which nearly swept the ground4 ,the short skirt first appears in the ,english novel in ,guy ,livingstone1 and is worn by the severe and upright ,lady ,alice1 the dame who hesitated not to snub ,florence ,bellasis1 when snubbing was needful1 and who was a mighty huntress4 ,now everybody wears it1 and the full skirts are seen nowhere except in the riding-school dressing-rooms1 where they yet linger because they may be worn by anybody1 whereas the plain skirts fits but one person4 ,it seems odd that so many years were required to discover that a short skirt1 held in place by a strap placed over the right toe and another slipped over the left heel1 really protected the feet more than yards of loosely floating cloth1 but did not steam and electricity wait for centuries8 ,since the new style was generally adopted1 ,englishwomen allow themselves the luxury of five or six habits1 instead of the one or two formerly considered sufficient1 but each one is worn for several years4 ,when the extravagant wife1 in ,mrs4 ,alexander's ,a ,crooked ,path1 suggests that she may soon want a new habit1 her husband asks indignantly1 ,did ,i not give you one two years ago8 ,the trousers may mach the habit or may be of stockinet1 or the imported cashmere tights may be worn4 ,women who are not fat and whose muscles are hard1 may choose whichsoever one of these pleases them1 but fat women1 and women whose flesh is not too solid1 must wear thick trousers1 and would better have them lined with buckskin1 unless they would be transformed into what ,sairey would call a mask of bruiges1 and would frequent remark to ,mrs4 ,harris that such was what she expected4 ,trousers with gaiter fastenings below the knee are preferred by some women who put not their faith in straps alone1 and knee-breeches are liked by some1 but to wear knee breeches means to pay fifteen dollars for long riding-boots1 instead of the modest seven or eight dollars which suffice to buy ordinary ,balmoral boots4 ,gaiters must button on the left side of each leg1 and trouser straps may be sewed on one side and buttoned on the other1 instead of being buttoned on both sides as men's are4 ,tailors sometimes insist on two buttons1 but as a woman does not wear her trousers except with the strap1 it is not difficult to see why she needs to be able to remove it4 ,the best material for the strap is thick soft kid1 or thin leather lined with cloth4 ,the thick1 rubber strap used by some tailors is dangerous1 sometimes preventing the rider from placing her foot in the stirrup1 sometimes making her lose it at a critical moment4 ,whether breeches1 tights1 or trousers are worn1 they must be loose at the knee1 or trotting will be impossible1 and the rider will feel as if bound to the second pommel1 and will sometimes be unable to rise at all4 ,as to gloves1 the choice lies between the warm antelope skin mousquetaires at two dollars a pair1 and the tan-colored kid gauntlets at the same price4 ,the former are most comfortable for winter1 the latter for summer1 and neither can be too large4 ,nobody was ever ordered out for execution for wearing black gloves1 although they are unusual1 and now and then one sees a woman1 whose soul is set on novelty1 gorgeous in yellow cavalry gauntlets1 or even with white dragoon gauntlets1 making her look like a badly focused photograph4 ,lastly1 as to the hat4 ,what shall it be1 ,esmeralda8 ,no tuft of grass-green plumes for you1 like ,queen ,guinevere's1 nor yet the free flowing feather to be seen in so many beautiful old ,french pictures1 nor the plumed hat which my sweet ,mistress ,ann ,dacre wore when ,constance ,sherwood's loving eyes first fell upon her1 but the simple jockey cap1 exactly matching your habit1 and costing two dollars and a half or three dollars2 the ,derby cap for the same price or a little more2 or1 best of all1 the ,english or the ,american silk hat1 as universally suitable as a black silk frock was in the good old times when ,mrs4 ,rutherford ,birchard ,hayes was in the ,white ,house4 ,the ,english ,henry ,heath hat at seven or eight dollars1 with its velvet forehead piece and its band of soft1 rough silk1 stays in place better than any other1 but it is too heavy for comfort4 ,if you can have an ,american hatter remodel it1 making it weigh half a pound less1 it will be perfection1 always provided that he does not1 as he assuredly will unless you forbid it1 throw away the soft1 rough band1 which keeps the hat in place1 and substitute one of the ,american smooth bands1 designed to slip off without ruffling the hair1 and doing it instantly1 the moment that a breeze touches the brim of the hat4 ,a hunting guard1 fastened at the back of the hat brim and between two habit buttons is better than an elastic caught under the braids of your hair1 for when an elastic does not snap outright1 it is always trying to do so1 and in the effort holds the hat so tightly on the head so as sometimes to give actual pain4 ,the hunting guard is no restraint at all unless the hat flies off1 in which case it keeps it from following the example of ,john ,gilpin's1 but with the ,henry ,heath lining1 your hat is perfectly secure in anything from a ,texas ,norther to a ,new ,england east wind4 ,if you follow ,london example1 and wear a straw hat for morning rides1 sew a piece of white velvet on the inner side of the band1 and your forehead will not be marked4 ,arrayed after these suggestions1 ,esmeralda1 you will be inconspicuous1 and that is the general aim of the true lady's riding dress1 with the exception of those worn by ,german princesses1 when1 at a review1 they lead the regiments which they command4 ,then1 their habits may be frogged and braided with gold1 or they may fire the air in habit and hat of white and scarlet1 the regimental colors1 as the ,empress of ,germany did the other day4 ,if you were sure of riding as these royal ladies do1 perhaps even white and scarlet might be permitted to you1 but can you fancy yourself1 ,esmeralda1 sweeping across a parade ground with a thousand horsemen behind you1 and ready to salute your sovereign and commander-in-chief at the right moment1 and to go forward with as much precision as if you1 too1 were one of those magnificently drilled machines brought into being by the man of blood and iron8 ,,xiii4 ',tis an old maxim in the schools1 ,that flattery's the food of fools4 ,swift4 ,if ,american children and ,american girls were the angels which their mothers and their lovers tell them that they are1 the best possible riding master for them would be an ,american soldier who had learned and taught riding at ,west ,point4 ,being of the same race1 pupil and teacher would have that vast fund of common memories1 hopes and feelings2 that common knowledge of character1 of good qualities and of defects1 and that ability to divine motives and to predict action which constitute perfect sympathy1 and their relations to one another would be mutually agreeable and profitable4 ,unfortunately1 ,esmeralda1 you1 like possibly some other ,american girls1 are not an angel1 and if you were1 you could not have such a riding master1 because the very few men who have the specified qualifications are too well acquainted with the characteristics of their countrywomen to instruct them in the equestrian art4 ,who1 then1 shall be his substitute8 ,clearly1 either a person sufficiently patient and clever to neutralize the faults of ,american women1 or one capable of adapting himself to them1 of eluding them1 and of forcing a certain quantity of knowledge upon his pupils1 almost in spite of themselves4 ,the former is hardly to be found among natives of the ,united ,states2 the latter can be found nowhere else1 except1 possibly1 in certain ,english shires in which the inhabitants so closely resemble the average ,american that when they immigrate hither they are scarcely distinguishable from men whose ancestors came two or three centuries ago4 ,a foreign teacher1 whether ,french1 ,german1 or ,hungarian1 always regards himself in the just and proper ,european manner as the superior of his pupil4 ,the traditions in which he has been reared1 in which he has been instructed1 not only in riding1 but in all other matters1 survive from the time when all learning was received from men whose title to respect rested not only on their wisdom but on their ecclesiastical office1 and who expected and received as much deference from their pupils as from their congregations4 ,undeniably1 there are unruly children in ,european schools1 but their rebelliousness is never encouraged1 and their teachers are expected to quell it1 not to submit to it1 much less to endeavour to avoid it by giving no commands which are distasteful4 ,even in the worst conducted private schools on the continent1 there is always at least one master who must be obeyed1 whose authority is held as beyond appeal1 and in the school conducted either by the church or by civil authority1 the duty of enforcing perfect discipline is regarded as quite as imperative as that of demanding well-learned lessons4 ,passing through these institutions1 the young ,european enters the military school with as little thought of disputing any order which may be given him as of arguing with the priest who states a theological truth from the pulpit4 ,and1 indeed1 had he been reared under the tutelage of one of those modern silver-tongued ,american pedagogues1 who make gentle requests lest they should elicit antagonism by commands1 the military school should soon completely alter the complexion of his ideas1 for he would find his failures in the execution of orders treated as disobedience4 ,he would not be punished at first1 it is true1 but pretty theories that he was nervous1 or ill1 or the victim of hereditary disability1 or of fibre too delicately attenuated to perform any required act1 would not be admitted except1 indeed1 as a reason for expulsion4 ,moreover1 the tests to which he would be compelled to submit before this escape from discipline lay open to him1 would be neither slight nor easily borne1 for the ,european military teacher has yet to learn the existence of that exquisite personal dignity which is hopelessly blighted by corporal punishment or infractions of discipline4 ,will you teach me how to ride1 sir8 asked a ,boston man of a ,hungarian soldier1 one of the pioneers among ,boston instructors4 ,will ,i teach you6 ,eh6 ,i don't know1 said the exile dolefully1 for during his few weeks in the city1 he had seen something of the ways of the ,american who fancies himself desirous of being taught4 ,perhaps you will learn1 but will--,i--teach--you8 ,you can ride8 ,a little4 ,very well6 ,mount that horse1 and ride around the ring4 ,away went the pupil1 doing his best1 but before he had traversed two sides of the school1 the master shouted to the horse1 and the pupil was sitting in the tan4 ,he picked himself up1 and returned to the mounting-stand1 saying3 ,will you tell me how to stay on next time8 ,i will1 cried the ,hungarian in a small ecstasy2 and ,i will make a rider of you6 ,and he did1 too1 and certainly took as much pleasure in his pupil in the long course of instruction which followed1 and in the resultant proficiency4 ,in ,european riding-schools for ladies1 there is1 of course1 no resort to corporal punishment1 but there is none of that careful abstention from telling disagreeable truths which popular ignorance extracts from ,american teachers in all schools1 except in the military and naval academies4 ,indeed1 the need of it is hardly felt1 for that peculiar self-consciousness which makes an ,american awkward under observation and restive under reproof is scarcely found in countries not democratic1 and the ,i'm ez good ez you be feeling that is at the bottom of ,american intractability1 has no chance to flourish in lands where position is a matter of birth and not of self-assertion4 ,a ,french woman1 compelled to make part of her toilet in a railway waiting-room under the eyes of half a score of enemies1 that is to say1 of ten other women1 arranges her tresses1 purchased or natural1 uses powder-puff and hare's foot if she choose1 and turns away from the mirror armed for conquest2 but an ,american similarly situated1 forgets half her hair-pins1 does not dare to wash her face carefully lest some one should sniff condemnation of her fussiness1 and looks worse after her efforts at beautifying4 ,a ,french girl1 told that her ,english accent is bad1 corrects it carefully2 an ,american1 gently reminded that a ,french u is not pronounced like you1 changes it to oo1 and stares defiance at ,bocher and all his works4 ,and even that commendable reserve which hinders well-bred ,americans from frank self-discussion1 stands in the way of perfect sympathy between him and the ,european master1 representative of races in which everybody1 from an emperor in his proclamations to the peasant chatting over his beer or petit vin1 may discourse upon his most recondite peculiarities4 ,for all these reasons1 the ,european riding master is often misunderstood1 even by his older pupils1 and young girls almost invariably mistake his patient reiteration and his methodical vivacity for anger1 so that his classes seldom contain any pupils not really anxious to learn1 or whose parents are not determined that they shall learn in his school and no other4 ,teaching is a matter of strict conscience with him1 and even after years of experience1 and in spite of more than one severe lesson as to ,american sensitiveness1 he continues to speak the truth4 ,even when his pupils have become what the ordinary observer calls perfect riders1 he allows no fault to go unreproved1 although nobody can more thoroughly enjoy the evening classes1 organized by fairly good riders rather for amusement than for instruction4 ,if you think you can endure perfect discipline and incessant plain speaking go to him1 ,esmeralda4 ,if you cannot1 take the other alternative1 the ,american or the ,english master1 but remember that it is only by absolute submission that you will obtain the best instruction which he is capable of giving4 ,if you do not compel him to tax his mind with remembering all your foibles and weaknesses1 you may1 thanks to race sympathy1 learn more rapidly at first from him than from a foreigner1 and1 unless you are rude and insubordinate to the point of insolence1 you may depend upon receiving no actual harshness from him1 although he will refuse to flatter you1 and will repeat his warnings against faults1 quite as persistently as any foreigner4 ,a very little observation of your fellow pupils will show you that presumption upon his good nature is wofully common1 and that his ,american inability to forget that a woman is a woman1 even when she conducts herself as if her name were ,ursa or ,jenny1 often subjects him to stupendous impertinence1 which he receives with calm and silent contempt4 ,you will find that his instruction follows the same lines as that of all foreign masters in the ,united ,states1 for there is no ,american system of horsemanship1 the traditions of the army1 and of the north1 being derived from ,france1 those of the south fro1 ,england1 and those of the southwest from ,spain1 by the way of ,mexico and ,texas4 ,under his instruction1 you will remain longer in the debatable land between perfect ignorance of horsemanship1 and being a really accomplished rider1 than you would if taught by a foreigner1 but1 as has already been said1 you will learn more rapidly at first1 an the result1 if you choose to work hard1 will be much the same4 ,should you1 by way of experiment1 choose to take lessons from both native and foreign masters1 you will find each frankly ready to admit the merits of the other1 and to acknowledge that he himself is better suited to some pupils than to others and1 to come back to what was told you at the outset1 you will find them unanimous in assuring you that your best teacher1 the instructor without whose aid you can learn nothing1 is yourself1 your slightly rebellious1 but withal clever1 ,american self4 ,you can learn1 ,esmeralda4 ,there is no field of knowledge into which the ,american woman has attempted to enter1 in which she has not demonstrated her ability to compete1 when she chooses to put forth all her energy1 with her sisters of other nations1 but she must work1 and must work steadily4 ,there are ,american teachers of grammar who cannot parse2 ,american female journalists who cannot write2 ,american women calling themselves doctors1 but unable to make a diagnosis between the cholera and the measles2 and ,american women practising law and dependent for a living on blatant self-advertising1 but with the faculties of ,vassar and ,wellesley in existence2 with the editor of ,harper's ,bazar receiving the same salary as ,mr4 ,curtis2 with ,american women acknowledged as a credit to the medical and to the legal profession--what of it8 ,the ,american woman can learn anything1 can do anything4 ,do you learn to ride1 and1 having done it1 keep riding4 ,at present you have received just sufficient instruction to qualify you to ride properly escorted1 on good roads1 but-- ,,keep ,,riding6