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diff --git a/old/10539.txt b/old/10539.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..debfb49 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10539.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4512 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, In the Riding-School; Chats With Esmeralda, +by Theo. Stephenson Browne + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: In the Riding-School; Chats With Esmeralda + +Author: Theo. Stephenson Browne + +Release Date: December 28, 2003 [eBook #10539] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE RIDING-SCHOOL; CHATS WITH +ESMERALDA*** + + +Transcribed by Elizabeth Durack, who is very pleased to be able to share +this rare and charming book. + + + +IN THE RIDING-SCHOOL; CHATS WITH ESMERALDA + +BY THEO. STEPHENSON BROWNE + +1890 + + + + + + -- We two will ride, + Lady mine, + At your pleasure, side by side, + Laugh and chat. + ALDRICH + + + + +TO THE MODERN MEN OF UZ; MY FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND AMERICAN +MASTERS. + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. A PRELIMINARY CHAT WITH ESMERALDA The proper frame of mind + --Dress--Preparatory exercises. + II. SHALL YOU TAKE YOUR MOTHER, ESMERALDA? The first lesson-- + Various ways of mounting--Slippery reins--Clucking--After + a ride. + III. CHAT DURING THE SECOND LESSON Equestrian language-- + Trotting without a horse--Exercises in and out of the saddle. + IV. ESMERALDA'S TRIALS AT THE THIRD LESSON Pounding the saddle + --A critical spectator--A few rein-holds. + V. ESMERALDA ON THE ROAD Good and bad and indifferent riders-- + A very little runaway. + VI. THE ORDEAL OF A PRIVATE LESSON Voltes and half voltes-- + "On the right hand of the school"--Imagination as a teacher. + VII. ESMERALDA AT A MUSIC RIDE Sitting like a poker--The + ways of the bad rider. +VIII. ESMERALDA IN CLASS Keeping distances--Corners-- + Proper place in the saddle--Exercises to correct nervous + stiffness. + IX. ELEMENTARY MILITARY EVOLUTIONS "Forward, forward, and + again forward!"--How to guide a horse easily. + X. CHAT DURING AN EXERCISE RIDE The deeds of the three-legged + trotter--The omniscient rider--Backing a step or two-- + Fun in the dressing-room. + XI. ESMERALDA IS MANAGED Intervals--The secret of learning + to ride. + XII. CHAT ABOUT THE HABIT Riding-dress in history and fiction-- + Cloth, linings and sewing--Boots, gloves, and hats. +XIII. CHAT ABOUT TEACHERS Foreign and native instructors--Why + American women learn slowly--"Keep riding!" + + + + + +I. + + Impatient to mount and ride. + _Longfellow_. + + +And you want to learn how to ride, Esmeralda? + +Why? Because? Reason good and sufficient, Esmeralda; to require +anything more definite would be brutal, although an explanation +of your motives would render the task of directing you much +easier. + +As you are an American, it is reasonable to presume that you +desire to learn quickly; as you are youthful, it is certain that +you earnestly wish to look pretty in the saddle, and as you are a +youthful American, there is not a shadow of a doubt that your +objections to authoritative teaching will be almost unconquerable, +and that you will insist upon being treated, from the very +beginning, as if your small head contained the knowledge of a +Hiram Woodruff or of an Archer. Perhaps you may find a teacher +who will comply with your wishes; who will be exceedingly +deferential to your little whims; will unhesitatingly accept your +report of your own sensations and your hypotheses as to their +cause; and, Esmeralda, when once your eyes behold that model man, +be content, and go and take lessons of another, for either he is +a pretentious humbug, careless of everything except his fees, or +he is an ignoramus. + +It may not be necessary that you should be insulted or ridiculed +in order to become a rider, although there are girls who seem +utterly impervious by teaching by gentle methods. Is it not a +matter of tradition that Queen Victoria owes her regal carriage +to the rough drill-sergeant who, with no effect upon his pupil, +horrified her governess, and astonished her, by sharply saying: +"A pretty Queen you'll make with that dot-and-go-one gait!" Up +went the little chin, back went the shoulders, down went the +elbows, and, in her wrath, the little princess did precisely what +the old soldier had been striving to make her do; but his +delighted cry of "Just right!" was a surprise to her, inasmuch as +she had been conscious of no muscular effort whatsoever. From +that time forth, _incessit regina_. + +You may not need such rough treatment, but it is necessary that +you should be corrected every moment and almost every second +until you learn to correct yourself, until every muscle in your +body becomes self-conscious, and until an improper position is +almost instantly felt as uncomfortable, and the teacher who does +not drill you steadily and continuously, permits you to fall into +bad habits. + +If you were a German princess, Esmeralda, you would be compelled +to sit in the saddle for many an hour without touching the reins, +while your patient horse walked around a tan bark ring, and you +balanced yourself and straightened yourself, and adjusted arms, +shoulders, waist, knees and feet, under the orders of a drill- +sergeant, who might, indeed, sugar-coat his phrases with "Your +Highness," but whose intonations would say "You must," as plainly +as if he were drilling an awkward squad of peasant recruits. If +you were the daughter of a hundred earls, you would be mounted on +a Shetland pony and shaken into a good seat long before you +outgrew short frocks, and afterwards you would be trained by your +mother or older sisters, by the gentlemen of your family, or +perhaps, by some trusted old groom, or in a good London riding- +school, and, no matter who your instructor might be, you would be +compelled to be submissive and obedient. + +But you object that you cannot afford to pay for very careful, +minute, and long-continued training; that you must content +yourself with such teaching as you can obtain by riding in a ring +under the charge of two or three masters, receiving such +instruction as they find time to give you while maintaining order +and looking after an indefinite number of other pupils. Your real +teacher in that case must be yourself, striving assiduously to +obey every order given to you, no matter whether it appears +unreasonable or seems, as the Concord young woman said, "in +accordance with the latest scientific developments and the +esoteric meaning of differentiated animal existences." That +sentence, by the way, silenced her master, and nearly caused him +to have a fit of illness from suppression of language, but +perhaps it might affect your teacher otherwise, and you would +better reserve it for that private mental rehearsal of your first +lesson which you will conduct in your maiden meditation. + +You are your own best teacher, you understand, and you may be +encouraged to know that one of the foremost horsemen in the +country says: "I have had many teachers, but my best master was +here," touching his forehead. "Where do you ride, sir?" asked one +of his pupils, after vainly striving with reins and whip, knee, +heel and spur to execute a movement which the master had +compelled his horse to perform while apparently holding himself +as rigid as bronze. "I ride here, sir," was the grim answer, with +another tap on the forehead. + +And first, Esmeralda, being feminine, you wish to know what you +are to wear. + +Until you have taken at least ten lessons, it would be simply +foolishness for you to buy any special thing to wear, except a +plain flannel skirt, the material for which should not cost you +more than two dollars and a half. Harper's Bazar has published +two or three patterns, following which any dressmaker can make a +skirt quite good enough for the ring. A jersey, a Norfolk jacket, +a simple street jacket or even an ordinary basque waist; any small, +close-fitting hat, securely pinned to your hair, and very loose +gloves will complete a dress quite suitable for private lessons, +and not so expensive that you need grudge the swift destruction +certain to come to all equestrian costumes. Nothing is more +ludicrous than to see a rider clothed in a correct habit, properly +scant and unhemmed, to avoid all risks when taking fences and +hedges in a hunting country, with her chimney-pot hat and her own +gold-mounted crop, her knowing little riding-boots and buckskins, +with outfit enough for Baby Blake and Di Vernon and Lady Gay +Spanker, and to see that young woman dancing in the saddle, now +here and now there, pulling at the reins in a manner to make +a rocking-horse rear, and squealing tearfully and jerkily: +"Oh, ho-ho-oh, wh-h-hat m-m-makes h-h-him g-g-go s-s-s-so?" + +If you think it possible that you may be easily discouraged, and +that your first appearance in the riding-school will be your +last, you need not buy any skirt, for you will find several in +the school dressing-room, and, for once, you may submit to +wearing a garment not your own. Shall you buy trousers or tights? +Wait till you decide to take lessons before buying either, first +to avoid unnecessary expense, and second, because until +experience shall show what kind of a horsewoman you are likely to +be, you cannot tell which will be the more suitable and +comfortable. Laced boots, a plain, dark underskirt, cut princess, +undergarments without a wrinkle, and no tight bands to compress +veins, 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 home. If you be addicted +to light gymnastics you will find it beneficial to practise a few +movements daily, both before taking your first lesson and as long +as you may continue to ride. + +First--Hold your shoulders square and perfectly rigid, and turn +the head towards the right four times, and then to the left four +times. + +Second--Bend the head four times to the right and four times to +the left. + +Third--Bend the head four times to the back and four times to +the front. These exercises will enable you to look at anything +which may interest you, without distracting the attention of your +horse, as you might do if you moved your shoulders, and thus +disturbed your equilibrium on your back. Feeling the change, he +naturally supposes that you want something of him, and when you +become as sensitive as you should be, you will notice that at +such times he changes his gait perceptibly. + +Fourth--Bend from the waist four times to the right, four to +the left, four times forward, and four times backward. These +movements will not only make the waist more flexible, but will +strengthen certain muscles of the leg. + +Fifth--Execute any movement which experience has shown you will +square your shoulders and flatten your back most effectually. +Throw the hands backward until they touch one another, or bring +your elbows together behind you, if you can. Hold the arms close +to the side, the elbows against the waist, the forearm at right +angles with the arm, the fists clenched, with the little finger +down and the knuckles facing each other, and describe ellipses, +first with one shoulder, then with the other, then with both. +This movement is found in Mason's School Gymnastics, and is +prescribed by M. de Bussigny in his little manual for horsewomen, +and it will prove admirable in its effects. Stretch the arms at +full length above the head, the palms of the hands at front, the +thumbs touching one another, and then carry them straight outward +without bending the elbows, and bend them down, the palms still +in front, until the little finger touches the leg. This movement +is recommended by Mason and also by Blaikie, and as it is part of +the West Point "setting up" drill, it may be regarded as +considered on good authority to be efficacious in producing an +erect carriage. Stand as upright as you can, your arms against +your side, the forearm at right angles, as before, and jerk your +elbows downward four times. + +Sixth--Sit down on the floor with your feet stretched straight +before you, and resting on their heels, and drop backward until +you are lying flat, then resume your first position, keeping your +arms and forearms at right angles during the whole exercise. +Still sitting, bend as far to the right as you can, then bend as +far as possible to the left, resuming a perfectly erect position +between the movements, and keeping your feet and legs still. +Rising, stand on your toes and let yourself down fifty times; +then stand on your heels, and raise and lower your toes fifty +times. The firmer you hold your arms and hands during these +movements, the better for you, Esmeralda, and for the horse who +will be your first victim. + +Already one can seem to see him, poor, innocent beast, miserable +in the memories of an army of beginners, his mouth so accustomed +to being jerked in every direction, without anything in +particular being meant by it, that neither Arabia nor Mexico can +furnish a bit which would surprise him, or startle his four legs +from their propriety. No cow is more placid, no lamb more gentle; +he would not harm a tsetse fly or kick a snapping terrier. His +sole object in life is to keep himself and his rider out of +danger, and to betake himself to that part of the ring in which +the least labor should be expected of him. The tiny girls who +ride him call him "dear old Billy Buttons," or "darling Gypsy," +or "nice Sir Archer." Heaven knows what he calls them in his +heart! Were he human, it would be something to be expressed by +dashes and "d's"; but, being a horse, he is silent, and shows his +feelings principally by heading for the mounting-stand whenever +he thinks that a pupil's hour is at an end. + +Why that long face, Esmeralda? Must you do all those exercises? +Bless your innocent soul, no! Dress yourself and run away. The +exercises will be good for you, but they are not absolutely +necessary. Remember, however, that your best riding-school master +is behind your own pretty forehead, and that your brain can save +your muscles many a strain and many a pound of labor. And +remember, too, that, in riding, as in everything else, to him +that hath shall be given, and the harder and firmer your muscles +when you begin, the greater will be the benefit which you will +derive from your rides, and the more you will enjoy them. The +pale and weary invalid may gain flesh and color with every +lesson, but the bright and healthy pupil, whose muscles are +like iron, whose heart and lungs are in perfect order, can +ride for hours without weariness, and double her strength in +a comparatively short time. + +But--Esmeralda, dear, before you go--whisper! Why do you want +to take riding lessons? Theodore asked you to go out with him +next Monday, and Nell said that she would lend you her habit, and +you thought that you would take three lessons and learn to ride? +There, go and dress, child; go and dress! + + + + + +II. + + Bring forth the horse! + _Byron_. + + +Being ready to start, Esmeralda, the question now arises: "Is a +riding school," as the girl asked about the new French play, "a +place to which one can take her mother?" Little girls too young +to dress themselves should be attended by their mothers or by +their maids, but an older girl no more needs guardianship at +riding-school than at any other place at which she receives +instruction, and there is no more reason why her mother should +follow her into the ring than into the class-room. + +Her presence, even if she preserve absolute silence, will +probably embarrass both teacher and pupil, and although her own +children may not be affected by it, it will be decidedly +troublesome to the children of other mothers. + +If, instead of being quiet, she talk, and it is the nature of the +mother who accompanies her daughter to riding-school to talk +volubly and loudly, she will become a nuisance, and even a source +of actual danger, by distracting the attention of the master from +his pupils, and the attention of the pupils from their horses, to +say nothing of the possibility that some of her pretty, ladylike +screams of, "Oh, darling, I know you're tired!" or, "Oh, what a +horrid horse; see him jump!" may really frighten some lucky +animal whose acquaintance has included no women but the sensible. + +If she be inclined to laugh at the awkward beginners, and to +ridicule them audibly--but really, Esmeralda, it should not be +necessary to consider such an action, impossible in a well-bred +woman, unlikely in a woman of good feeling! Leave your mother, if +not at home, in the dressing-room or the reception room, and go +to the mounting-stand alone. + +In some schools you may ride at any time, but the usual morning +hours for ladies' lessons are from nine o'clock to noon, and the +afternoon hours from two o'clock until four. Some masters prefer +that their pupils should have fixed days and hours for their +lessons, and others allow the very largest liberty. For your own +sake it is better to have a regular time for your lessons, but if +you cannot manage to do so, do not complain if you sometimes have +to wait a few minutes for your horse, or for your master. + +The school is not carried on entirely for your benefit, although +you will at first assume that it is. As a rule, a single lesson +will cost two dollars, but a ten-lesson ticket will cost but +fifteen dollars, a twenty-lesson ticket twenty-five dollars, and +a ticket for twenty exercise rides twenty dollars. In schools +which give music-rides, there are special rates for the evenings +upon which they take place, but you need not think of music-rides +until you have had at least the three lessons which you desire. + +Buy your ticket before you go to the dressing-room, and ask if +you may have a key to a locker. Dress as quickly as you can, and +if there be no maid in the dressing-room, lock up your street +clothing and keep your key. If there be a maid, she will attend +to this matter, and will assist you in putting on your skirt, +showing you that it buttons on the left side, and that you must +pin it down the basque of your jersey or your jacket in the back, +unless you desire it to wave wildly with every leap of your +horse. Flatter not yourself that lead weights will prevent this! +When a horse begins a canter that sends you, if your feelings be +any gauge, eighteen good inches nearer the ceiling, do you think +that an ounce of lead will remain stationary? give a final touch +to your hairpins and hatpins, button your gloves, pull the rubber +straps of your habit over your right toe and left heel, and you +are ready. + +In most schools, you will be made to mount from the ground, and +you will find it surprisingly and delightfully easy to you. What +it may be to the master who puts you into the saddle is another +matter, but nine out of ten teachers will make no complaint, and +will assure you that they do very well. + +If you wish to deceive any other girl's inconsiderate mother whom +you may find comfortably seated in a good position for criticism, +and to make her suppose that you are an old rider, keep silence. +Do not criticise your horse or his equipments, do not profess +inability to mount, but when you master says "Now!" step forward +and stand facing in the same direction of your horse, placing +your right hand on the upper pommel of the two on the left of the +saddle. + +Set your left foot in whichever hand he holds out for it. Some +masters offer the left, some the right, and some count for a +pupil, and others prefer that she should count for yourself. The +usual "One, two, three!" means, one, rest the weight strongly on +the right foot; two, bend the right knee, keeping the body +perfectly erect; three, spring up from the right foot, turning +very slightly to the left, so as to place yourself sideways on +the saddle, your right hand toward the horse's head. + +Some masters offer a shoulder as a support for a pupil's left +hand, and some face toward the horse's head and some toward his +tail, so it is best for you to wait a little for directions, +Esmeralda, and not to suppose that, because you know all about +Lucy Fountain's way of mounting a horse, or about James Burdock's +tuition of Mabel Vane, there is no other method of putting a lady +in the saddle. + +After your first lesson, you will find it well to practise +springing upward from the right foot, holding your left on +a hassock, or a chair rung, your right hand raised as if +grasping the pommel, your shoulders carefully kept back, and +your body straight. It is best to perform this exercise before +a mirror, and when you begin to think you have mastered it, +close you eyes, give ten upward springs and then look at +yourself. A hopeless wreck, eh? Not quite so bad as that, but, +before, you unconsciously corrected your position by the eye, +and you must learn to do it entirely by feeling. You will +probably improve very much on a second trial, because your +shoulders will begin to be sensitive. Why not practise this +exercise before your first lesson? Because you should know just +how your master prefers to stand, in order to be able to +imagine him standing as he really will. 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 mounting, although, when once the right leg and wrist +are properly trained, a woman ought to be able to reach the +saddle without caring what her escort's method of assistance. + +Mounting from a high horseblock is a matter of being fairly +lifted into the saddle, and you cannot possibly do it improperly. +it is easy, but it gives you no training for rides outside the +school, and masters use it, not because they approve of it, but +because their pupils, not knowing how easy it is to mount from +the ground, often desire it. + +But, being in the saddle, turn so as to face your horse's head, +put our right knee over the pommel, and slip your left foot into +the stirrup. Then rise on your left foot and smooth your skirt, a +task in which your master will assist you, and take you reins and +your whip from him. + +How shall you hold your reins? As your master tells you! +Probably, he will give you but one rein at first, and very likely +will direct you to hold it in both hands, keeping them five or +six inches apart, the wrists on a level with the elbows or even a +very little lower, and he is not likely to insist on any other +details, knowing that it will be difficult for you to attain +perfection in these. An English master might give you a single +rein to be passed outside the little finger, and between the +forefinger and the middle finger, the loop coming between the +forefinger and thumb, and being held in place by the thumb. Then +he would expect you to keep your right shoulder back very firmly, +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 +hand, and an American master will usually allow you to take your +choice, but, until you have experience, obey orders in silence. + +And now, having taken your whip, draw yourself back in your +saddle so as to feel the pommel under your right knee; sit well +towards the right, square your shoulders, force your elbows well +down, hollow your waist a little, and start. He won't go? Of +course he will not, until bidden to do so, if he know his +business. Bend forward the least bit in the world, draw very +slightly on the reins, and rather harder on the right, so as to +turn him from the stand, and away he walks, and you are in the +ring. You had no idea that it was so large, and you feel as if +lost on a western prairie, but you are in no danger whatsoever. +You cannot fall off while your right knee and left foot are in +place, and if you deliberately threw yourself into the tan, you +would be unhurt, and the riding-school horse knows better than to +tread on anything unusual which he may find in his way. + +Now, Esmeralda, keep your mind--No, your saddle is not turning; +it is well girthed. You feel as if it were? Pray, how do you know +how you would feel if a saddle were to turn? Did you ever try it? +And your saddle is not too large! Neither is it too small! And +there is nothing at all the matter with your horse! Now, +Esmeralda, keep your mind--No, that other girl is not going to +ride you down. Her horse would not allow her, if she endeavored +to do so. The trouble is that she does not guide her horse, but +is worrying herself about staying on his back, when she should be +thinking about making him turn sharp corners and go straight +forward. Regard her as a warning, Esmeralda, and keep your mind-- +What is the matter with the reins? Apparently they are oiled, +for they have slipped from under your thumbs, and your horse is +wandering along with drooping head, looking as if training to +play the part of the dead warrior's charger at a military +funeral. + +Shorten your reins now, carefully! Not quite so much, or your +horse will think that you intend to begin to trot, and do not +lean backward, or he will fancy that you wish him to back or +stop. The poor thing has to guess at what a pupil wishes, and no +wonder that he sometimes mistakes. + +But, Esmeralda, keep your mind on those thumbs and hold them +close to your forefingers. Driving will give no idea of the +slipperiness of leather, but after your first riding lesson you +will wonder why it is not used to floor roller-skating rinks. But +remember that your reins are for your horse's support, not for +yours; they are the telegraph wires along which you send +dispatches to him, not parallel bars upon which your weight is to +depend. Hitherto, you have not ridden an inch. Your horse has +strolled about, and you have not dropped from his back, and that +is not riding, but now you shall begin. + +In a large ring, pupils are required to keep to the wall when +walking, as this gives the horse a certain guide, but in small +rings the rule is to keep to the wall when trotting, so as to +improve every foot of pace, and to walk about six feet from the +wall, not in a circle, but describing a rectangle. New pupils are +always taught to turn to the right, and to make all their +movements in that direction. Hold your thumbs firmly in place, +and draw your right hand a very little upward and inward, +touching your whip lightly to the horse's right side, and turning +your face and leaning your body slightly to the right. + +The instant that the corner is turned, drop your hand, keeping +the thumb in place, square your shoulders, look straight between +your horse's ears, and then allow your eyes to range upward as +far as possible without losing sight of him altogether. No matter +what is going on about you. Very likely, the criticizing mamma on +the mounting-stand is scolding sharply about noting. Possibly, a +dear little boy is fairly flying about the ring on a pony that +seems to have cantered out of a fairy tale, and a marvelously +graceful girl, whom you envy with your whole soul, is doing +pirouettes in the centre of the ring. + +All that is not your business. Your sole concern is to keep your +body in position, and your mind fixed on making your horse obey +you, doing nothing of his own will. Stop him now and then by +leaning back, and drawing on the reins, not with your body but +with your hands. Then lean forward and go on, but if he should +remain planted as fast as the Great Pyramid, if when started he +should refuse to pay any attention to the little taps of your +left heel and the touches of your whip, nay, if he should lie +down and pretend to die, like a trick horse in a circus, don't +cluck. No good riding master will teach a pupil to cluck or will +permit the practice to pass unreproved, and riding-school horses +do not understand it, 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 backs. + +But now, just as you have shortened your reins for the fortieth +time or so, your master rides up beside you. You told him of your +little three-lesson plan, and being wise in his generation, he +smilingly assented to it. "Shall we trot?" he asks, in an +agreeable voice. "Shorten your reins, now! Don't pull on them! +Right shoulder back! Now rise from the saddle as I count, 'One, +two, three, four!' Off we go!'" You would like to know what he +meant by "off!" "Off," indeed! You thought you were "off" the +saddle. You have been bounced up and down mercilessly, and have +gasped, "Stop him!" before you have been twice around the ring, +and not one corner have you been able to turn properly. As for +your elbows, you know that they have been flying all abroad, but +still--it was fun, and you would like to try again. You do try +again, and you would like to try again. You do try again, and, at +last, you are conscious of a sudden feeling of elasticity, of +sympathy with your horse, of rising when he does, and then your +master looks at you triumphantly, and says: "You rose that time," +and leaves you to go to some other pupil. And then you walk your +horse again, trying to keep in position, and you make furtive +little essays at trotting by yourself, and find that you cannot +keep your horse to the wall, although you pull your hardest at +his left rein, the reason being that, unconsciously, you also +pull at the right rein, and that he calmly obeys what the reins +tell him and goes straight forward. Then your master offers to +help you by lifting you, grasping your right arm with his left +hand, and you make one or two more circuits of the ring, and then +the hour is over and you dismount and go to the dressing-room. + +Tired, Esmeralda? A little, and you do wonder whether you shall +not be a bruised piece of humanity to-morrow. Not if your flesh +be as hard as any girl's should be in these days of gymnasiums, +but if you have managed to bruise a muscle or to strain one, lay +a bottle of hot water against it when you go to bed and it will +not be painful in the morning. If, in spite of warnings, you have +been so careless about your underclothing as to cause a blister, +a bit of muslin saturated with Vaseline, with a drop of tincture +of benzoin rubbed into it, makes a plaster which will end the +smart instantly. + +This is not a physician's prescription, but is hat of a horseman +who for years led the best riding class in Boston, and it is +asserted that nobody was ever known to be dissatisfied with its +effects. Muffle yourself warmly, Esmeralda, and hasten home, for +nothing is easier than to catch cold after riding. Air your frock +and cloak before an open fire to volatilize the slight ammoniacal +scent which they must inevitably contract in the locker, and then +be as good to yourself as the hostler will be to your poor horse. +That is to say, give yourself a sponge bath in hot water, with a +dash of Sarg's soap and almond meal in it, rubbing dry with a +Turkish towel, and then dress and go down to dinner. + +Looking at your glowing face and shining eyes, your father will +tell your mother that she should have gone also, but when he +marks the havoc which you make with the substantial part of the +meal, and sees that your appetite for dessert is twice as good as +usual, he will reflect upon his butcher's and grocer's bills, +and, considering what they would be with provision to make for +two such voracious creatures, he will say, "No, Esmeralda, don't +take your mother!" + + + + + +III. + + Up into the saddle, + Lithe and light, vaulting she perched. + _Hayne_. + + +And you still think, Esmeralda, that three lessons will be enough +to make you a horse woman, and that by next Monday you will be +able to join the road party, and witch the world with your +accomplishments? + +Very well, array yourself for conquest and come to the school. +Talk is cheap, according to a proverb more common than elegant; +but it is sinful to waste the cheapest of things. While you +dress, you will meditate upon the sensation which it is your +intention to make in the ring, and upon the humiliation which you +will heap upon your riding master by showing wonderful ability to +rise in the saddle. Although not quite ready to assert ability to +ride hour after hour like a mounted policeman, you feel certain +that you could ride as gracefully as he, and perhaps you +are right, for official position does not confer wisdom in +equitation. To say nothing of policemen, it is not many seasons +since an ambitious member of the governor's staff presented +himself before a riding master to "take a lesson, just to get +used to it, you know; got to review some regiments at Framingham +tomorrow." And when, after some trouble, he had been landed in +the saddle, never a strap had he, and long before his lesson hour +was finished, he was a spectacle to make a Prussian sentinel +giggle while on duty. + +And for your further encouragement, Esmeralda, know that it is +but a few years ago that a riding master, in answer to a +rebellious pupil who defended some sin against Baucher with, "Mr. +--of the governor's staff always does so," retorted, "There is +just one man on the governor's staff who can ride, and I taught +him; and if he had ridden like that !" An awful silence expressed +so many painful possibilities that the pupil was meek and humble +ever after, and yet it was not written in any newspaper that any +of those ignorant colonels were thrown from their saddles in +public, nor did the strapless gentleman furnish amusement to +civilian or soldier by rolling on the grass at Framingham. + +The truth is, that the number of persons able to judge of riding +is smaller than the number able to ride, and that number is +rather less than one in a hundred of those who appear on +horseback either in the ring or on the road; but Boston could +furnish a legion of men and women who find healthful enjoyment in +the saddle, and who look passably well while doing it, and +possibly you may add yourself to their ranks after a very few +lessons, although there is--You are ready? Come then! + +Into the saddle well thought, thanks to your master, but why that +ghastly pause? Turn instantly, place your knee over the pommel +and thrust your foot into the stirrup, if you possibly can, +without waiting for assistance. Teachers of experience, riding +masters, dancing masters, musicians, artists, gymnasts, will +unite in telling you that unless a pupil's mental qualities be +rather extraordinary, it is more difficult to impart knowledge at +a second lesson than at the first, simply because the pupil gives +less attention, expecting his muscles to work mechanically. + +Undoubtedly, after long training, fingers will play scales, and +flying feet whirl their owner about a ballroom without making him +conscious of every muscular extension and contraction, but this +facility comes only to those who, in the beginning, fix an +undivided mind upon what they are doing, and who never fall into +willful negligence. + +Keep watch of yourself, manage yourself as assiduously as you +watch and manage your horse, and ten times more assiduously than +you would watch your fingers at the piano, or your feet in the +dancing class, because you must watch for two, for your horse and +for yourself. If you give him an incorrect signal, he will obey +it, you will be unprepared for his next act, and in half a minute +you will have a very pretty misunderstanding on your hands. + +But there is no reason for being frightened. You cannot fall, and +if your horse should show any signs of actual misbehavior, you +would find your master at your right hand, with fingers of steel +to grasp your reins, and a voice accustomed to command obedience +from quadrupeds, howsoever little of it he may be able to obtain +at first from well-meaning bipeds. You are perfectly safe with +him, Esmeralda, not only because he knows how to ride, but +because the strongest of all human motives, self-interest, is +enlisted to promote your safety. "She said she was afraid to risk +her neck," said an exhausted teacher, speaking the words of +frankness to a spectator, as a timid and stupid pupil disappeared +into the dressing-room, "and I told her that she could afford the +risk better than I. If she broke it, than don't you know, it +probably could not be mended, but mine might be broken in trying +to save her, and, at the best, my reputation and my means of +getting a livelihood would be gone forever in an instant. It's +only a neck with her; it's life and wife and babies that I risk, +and I'll insure her neck." And when the stupid pupil, who was a +lady in spite of her dulness, came from the dressing-room, calmed +and quieted, and began to offer a blushing apology, he repeated +his remarks to her, and so excellent was the understanding +established between them after this little incident that she +actually came to be a tolerable rider. Feeling that he would tell +her to do nothing dangerous to her, she was ready at his command +to lie down on her horse's back and to raise herself again and +again, and, after doing this a few times, and bending alternately +to the right and to the left, the saddle seemed quite homelike, +and to remain in it sitting upright was very easy for a few +moments. + +Only for a few moments, however, for the necessity of paying +attention still remained, as it does with you, and again she +stiffened herself, as you are doing now. + +As Mr. Mead very justly says, in his "Horsemanship for Women," a +lesson may be learned from a bag of grain set up on horseback, +which is, that while the lower part of your body should settle +itself almost lazily in place, the upper part, which is +comparatively light, should sway slightly but easily with the +horse's motion. + +Manage to ride behind the girl who was teaching herself to do +pirouettes the other day. Her horse is walking rapidly, and you +could almost fancy that her prettily squared shoulders were part +of him, so sympathetically do they respond to each step, but if +you should let your horse straggle against hers and frighten him, +you would see that no rock is more firmly seated then she. + +If it should please your master to require you to perform the +bending exercise, you will feel the advantage of having practiced +it at home, for it is infinitely easier in the saddle than it is +on the floor, and your riding master will be exceedingly pleased +at the ease with which you effect it. There is no necessity for +telling him that the little feat is quite familiar to you. The +woman of sense keeps as many of her doings secret as she can, and +the wise pupil confesses no knowledge except that derived from +her master. Being, in spite of his superior knowledge, a mortal +man, he will take twice the pains with her, and a hundredfold +more pride in her if persuaded that she owes everything to him. + +There is no reason to worry about a little stiffness during the +first lessons. It is almost entirely nervousness, and will +disappear as soon as you are quite comfortable and easy, but the +beautiful flexibility of the good horsewoman comes only to her +whose muscles are perfectly trained, and it is surprising how few +muscles there are to which one may not give employment in an +hour's practice in the ring. If you like, you may, without the +assistance of your master, lean forward to the right side until +your left shoulder touches your horse's crest, 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 forefeet, but you would better not +perform the same exercise on the left side for the present, for +you might overbalance yourself and almost slip from the saddle. +If able, as you should be, to touch the floor with your +fingertips without bending your knees, this little movement will +be nothing to you, but do not bend to the left, Esmeralda. Why +not? Why, because if you will have the truth, you are slipping to +the left already, your right shoulder is drooping forward, 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 +you, and would be thoroughly uncomfortable, were it not that you +have forgotten all about your thumbs, and you have allowed your +reins to slip away from you, so that he is going where he +pleases, except when you jerk him sharply to the right, and then +he shakes and tosses his head and goes on contentedly, as one +saying, "All things have an end, even a new pupil's hour." + +Now, sit well to the right, remembering the meal sack; shorten +your reins, keeping your elbows down and your hands low. Shorten +them a very little more, so as to bring your elbows further +forward. When you stop, you should not be compelled to jerk your +elbows back of your waist, but should bring them into line with +it, leaning back slightly, and drawing yourself upward. Stop your +horse now, for practice. Do not speak to him during your first +lessons, except by your master's express command, but address him +in his own language, using your reins, your foot, and your whip, +if your master permit. "Why do you make coquette of your horse?" +asked a French master of a pretty girl who was coaxingly calling +her mount "a naughty, horrid thing," and casting glances fit to +distract a man on the ungrateful creature's irresponsive crest. +"Your horse does not care anything at all about you; don't you +think he does!" pursued he, ungallantly. "You may coax me as much +as you like," said a Yankee teacher to a young woman who was +trying the "treat him kindly" theory, and was calling her horse a +"dear old ducky darling;" "and," he continued, "I'm rather fond +of candy myself, but it isn't coaxing or lump sugar that will +make that horse go. It's brains and reins and foot and whip." + +When you have a horse of your own, talk to him as much as you +like, and teach him your language as an accomplishment, but +address the riding-school horse in his own tongue, until you have +mastered it yourself. + +Now, adjust yourself carefully, lean forward, extend your hands a +very little, touch your horse with your left heel, and, as soon +as he moves, sit erect and let your hands resume their position. +Hasten his steps until he is almost trotting, before you strike +him with the whip. 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 step, by touches with your heel, and by +touches, not blows, with the whip, and by allowing yourself, not +to rise, but to sit a little lighter with each step. It is not +very easy to do, and you need not be discouraged if you cannot +effect it after many trials. Some masters will tell you to strike +your horse on the shoulder, and some will prefer that you should +strike him on the flank as a signal for trotting. Those who +prefer the former will tell you to carry your whip pointing +forward; the others will tell you to carry it pointing backward, +and many masters will say that it makes little difference as long +as it is carried gracefully, and as long as you understand that +it takes the place of a leg on the right side of the horse. +General Anderson, in "On Horseback," lays down the rule that a +horse should never be struck on the shoulder, as it will cause +him to swerve, but use your master's horses in obedience to his +orders. + +Now, then, one, two, three, four! One, two, three, four! You +don't seem to be astonishing anybody very much, Esmeralda! Again, +one, two, three, four! Never mind! Sit down and let the horse do +the work. Keep your left heel down, and your left knee close to +the saddle. Not close to the pommel, understand, but close to the +saddle. Try and imagine, if you like, that you are carrying a +dollar between the knee and the saddle, after the West Point +fashion, and do not fret overmuch because you are not rising. If +you were a cavalryman riding with your troop, you would not be +allowed to rise, and to sit properly while sitting close is an +accomplishment not to be despised. "Ow!" What does that mean? You +rose without trying? Watch yourself carefully, and if such a +phenomenon should occur again, try to make it repeat itself by +letting yourself down into the saddle, and then rising again +quickly. But keep trotting! Count how many times you trot around +the ring, and mentally pledge yourself to increase the number of +circuits at your next lesson. And--"Cluck!" + +Sit down in the saddle, Esmeralda! Lean back a little, bring your +left knee up against the pommel, keeping the lower part of the +leg close against the saddle; keep your right knee in place and +your right foot and the lower part of your right leg close to the +saddled; guide your horse, but do not otherwise exert yourself. +How do you like it? Delightful? Yes, with a good horse it is as +delightful as sitting in a rocking-chair, but, if you were a +rider of experience, you would not allow your horse to enter upon +the gait without permission, but would bring him back to the trot +by slightly pulling first the left rein and then the right, a +movement which is called sawing the mouth. The poor creature is +really not in fault. He heard the cluck given by that complacent- +looking man, trotting slowly about, and not knowing how to use +his reins and knees in order to go faster, and he said to +himself: "She is tired of trotting and wants a rest; so do I," +and away he went. If you had been trying to rise, you might have +been thrown, for the greatest danger that you will encounter in +the school comes from rising while the horse is at a canter. The +cadence of the motion is triple, instead of in common time like +that of the trot, and you will soon distinguish the difference, +but eschew cantering at first. If you once become addicted to it, +you will never learn to trot, or even to walk well. + +Having had your little warning against clucking, perhaps you +will now sympathize with the indignant Englishwoman who, having +been almost unseated by a similar mischance, responded, when +the clucking cause thereof rode up to say that he was sorry +that her horse should behave so: "It wasn't the horse that was +in fault, sir; it was a donkey." But now, try a round or two +more of trotting, then guide your horse carefully about the ring +two or three times, bring him up to the mounting-stand, dismount, +and go to the dressing-room. You are rather warm, but not in +the least tired, and you have had "such a good time," as you +enthusiastically explain to everybody who will listen to you, but +as there is much merry chatter going on from behind screens, and +as it is all to the same effect, nobody pays much attention, and +if you were cross and complaining, everybody would laugh at you. +A riding-school is a place from which every woman issues better +contented than she entered, and there is no sympathy for +grumblers. + +Remember to be careful about your wraps, and that you may be able +to ride better next time, practice these exercises at home: Place +your knees together and heels together, adjust your shoulders, +hands, and arms as if you were in the saddle, and sit down as far +as possible, while keeping the legs vertical from the knee down. +Rise, counting "One," sink again, rise once more at "Two," and +continue through three measures, common time. Rest a minute and +repeat until you are a little weary. Nothing is gained by doing +too much work, but if you do just enough of this between lessons, +you cannot possibly grow stiff. When you can do it fairly well, +try to do it first on one foot and then on the other, and then +bring your right foot in front of your left knee, and, standing +on your left foot, assume, as nearly as possibly, the proper +position for the saddle, and try to rise in time. You will not +find it very difficult, and you will be compelled to keep your +heel down while doing it, especially if you put a block about an +inch thick under your left tow. You may try doing it while +sitting sidewise in a chair, if it be difficult for you to poise +yourself on one foot, but a girl who cannot stand thus for some +time, long enough to lace her riding boot, for instance, is much +too weak for her own good. + +Take all your spare minutes for this work, Esmeralda. Bob up and +down in all the secluded corners of the house; try to feel the +motion in the horse-cars--it will not need much effort in many +of them. And if you want to be comfortable in a herdic, sit +sidewise and pretend that the seat is a horse. This is Mr. +Hurlburt's rule for riding in an Irish "outside car." In short, +while taking your first riding-lessons, walk, sit, and think to +the tune of + + "One, two, three, four! + Near the wall, + Make him trot; + You cannot fall!" + + + + + +IV. + + The Horse does not attempt to fly; + He knows his powers, and so should I. + _Spurgeon_. + + +Wilful will to water, eh, Esmeralda? You are determined to appear +in that riding party after your third lesson, and you think that +you "will look no worse than a great many others." Undoubtedly, +that is true, and more's the pity, but, since you will go, let us +make the most of the third lesson, and trust that you will return +in a whole piece, like Henry Clay's pie. + +You do not see why there is any more danger on the road than in +the ring, and you have never been thrown! It would be unkind, in +the face of that "never," to remind you that you have been in the +saddle precisely twice, and, really, there is no more danger from +your incompetency, should it manifest itself on the road, than +might arise from its display in the ring, but with your horse it +is another matter. Having the whole world before him, why not, he +will meditate, speed forth into space, and escape from the +hateful creature who jerks on his head so causelessly, making him +sigh wearily for the days of his unbroken colthood? He would +endure it within doors, because he has noticed that his tormentor +gives place to another every hour, and pain may be borne when it +is not monotonous; but he remembers that there is no limit to the +time during which one human being may impel him along an open +road, and he also remembers some very pretty friskings, +delightful to himself, but disconcerting to his rider, and he may +perform some of them. + +Even if he should, he would not unseat a rider well accustomed to +school work, but you! You actually rose in the saddle three times +in succession, the other day, and where were your elbows and +where were your feet when you ceased rising, and long before your +steady, quiet mount understood that you desired him to walk? + +Your master smiles indulgently when you announce that this is +your last practice lesson, and says: "Very well, you shall ride +Charlie, to-day, at least for a little while, until some others +come in." He himself mounts, moves off a pace or two, one of the +assistant masters puts you in the saddle, and before the groom +lets Master Charlie's head go, your master says, easily: "Leave +his reins pretty long, especially the right one. Put your left +knee close against the pommel; don't try to rise until I tell +you. Ready. Now." + +You feel as if you were in a transformation scene at the theatre. +The windows of the ring seem to run into one another, and at very +short intervals you catch a glimpse in the mirror of a young +woman, in a familiar looking Norfolk jacket, 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 waist. + +On and on! You earnestly wish to stop, but are ashamed to say so. +Close at your right hand, pace for pace with you, rides your +master, keeping up an unbroken fire of brief ejaculation: "Hands +a little lower! Arms close to the side!" Shoulders square! +Square! Draw your right shoulder backward and upward! Now down +with your right elbow! Don't pull o the right rein! Don't lift +your hands! You'll make him go faster!" + +"I like this kind of trot," you say sweetly. "It's easier than +the other kind." + +"It isn't a trot; it's a canter," says your master, with a +suspicion of dryness in his voice, "but you may make him trot if +you like. Shorten both reins, especially the left. Whoa, Charlie! +Wait until I say 'Now,' before you do it! Shorten both reins, +especially the left; that will keep him to the wall, Then extend +your left arm a little, and draw back your right; draw back your +left and extend your right, and repeat until he comes down to a +trot. That saws his mouth, and gives him something besides +scampering to occupy his mind. Now we will start up again at a +canter. Lengthen your reins, but remember to shorten them when +you want to trot." + +"Shall I tell you before hand, so that you may have time to make +your horse trot, too?" you ask. + +Esmeralda, you must have been reading one of those sweet books on +etiquette which advise the horsewoman to be considerate of her +companions. How much notice do you think your master requires to +"make his horse trot"? You will blush over the memory of that +question next year, although now you feel that you have been very +ladylike, even very Christian, in putting it, for have you not +shown that your temper is unruffled and that you are thinking how +to make others happy? + +Your master answers that his horse may be trusted, and that if +you prefer to take your own time to change from the canter to the +trot, rather than to wait for him to say, "Now," you may do so. +And the canter begins again, and, after a round or two, you try +the mouth-sawing process, doing it very well, for it is an ugly +little trick at best, rarely found necessary by an accomplished +rider, and beginners seldom fail to succeed in it at the very +first attempt. If it were pretty and graceful, it would be more +difficult. Down to the trot comes the obedient Charles, and up +you go one, two, three, four! And down you come, until you really +expect to find yourself and the saddle in the tan between the two +halves of your horse. + +Of what can the creature's spinal column be made, to bear such a +succession of blows! You begin by pitying the horse, but after +about half a circuit, you think that human beings have their +little troubles also, and you feel a suspicion of sarcasm in your +master's gentle: "You need not do French trot any longer, unless +you like. It will be easier for you to rise." + +You give a frantic hop in your stirrup at the wrong minute, and +begin a series of jumps in which you and the horse rise on +alternate beats, by which means your saddle receives twice as +much pounding as at first, and then you have breath enough left +to gasp "Stop," and in a second you are walking along quietly, +and your master is saying in a matter-of-fact way: "You would +better keep your left heel down all the time, and turn the toe +toward the horse's side and keep your right foot and leg close to +the saddle below the knee; swing yourself up and down as a man +does; don't drop like a lump of lead." + +"Like a snowflake," you murmur, for you fancy that you have a +pretty wit like Will Honeycomb. + +"Not at all," says your master. "The snowflake comes down because +it must, and comes to stay. You come because you choose, and come +down to rise again instantly. You must keep your right shoulder +back, and your hands on a level with your elbows, and you must +turn the corners, not let your horse turn them as he pleases-- +but more pupils are coming now and I must give you another horse. +You may have Billy Buttons." The change is effected, the other +pupils begin their lessons, and you and Billy walk deliberately +about in the centre of the ring. + +At first he keeps moderately near the wall, but after a time you +find that the circle described by his footsteps has grown +smaller, and that he apparently fancies himself walking around a +rather small tree. Your master rides up as you are pulling and +jerking your left rein in the endeavor to come nearer to the +wall, and says, "Try Billy's canter. I'll take a round with you. +Strike him on the shoulder, and when you want him to trot, +shorten your reins and touch him on the flank. Those are the +signals which he minds best. Now! Canter." + +You remember having heard of a "canter like a rocking-chair." +Charlie had it, but you were too inexperienced to know it, but +bad riders long ago deprived Billy of any likeness to a rocking- +chair. He knows that if he should let himself go freely, you +would come near to making him rear by pulling on the reins, +and so he goes along "one, two, three, one, two, three," +deliberately, and you feel and look, as you hear an unsympathetic +gazer in the gallery remark, "like a pea in a hot skillet." You +prided yourself on keeping your temper unruffled under the wise +criticism of your master, but in truth you did not really believe +him. You said to yourself that he was too particular, and you +even thought of informing him that he must not expect perfection +immediately, but this piece of impudence, spoken by a person +who, for aught that you can tell, does not know Billy from a +clotheshorse, convinces you instantly, and you decide to canter +no more, but to trot, and so you "shorten your reins and strike +him on the flank." + +As you shorten the right rein more than the left, and as your +whip falls as lightly as if you meant the blow for yourself, +Billy goes to the centre of the ring, but you jerk him to the +wall, and in time, trot he does. But your left foot swings now +forward and now outward, and you cannot rise. The regular, +pulsating count by which a clever girl is moving like a machine, +irritates you, and you tell another beginner, "They really ought +to let us rise on alternate bats at first, until we are more +accustomed to the motion," and she agrees with you, and both of +you try this, which might be called trotting on the American +pupil plan, but even the calm Billy manages to take about six +steps between what you regard as the "alternate beats," and at +last breaks into a canter, and you hear yourself ordered, very +peremptorily, to "sit down." You obey, but begin the pea in the +skillet performance again, and at last you tell your master that +you will not try to trot anymore, but would like to know all +about managing the reins. + +"And then," you say, looking as wise as the three Gothamites of +the nursery song, "even if I should not be able to trot long, and +should fall behind my friends on the road, I shall have perfect +control of my horse, and can walk on until they miss me and turn +back for me. Will you please tell me all the ways of holding the +reins?" + +Your master does not laugh; the joke is too venerable, and he +feels awe-struck as he hears it, so ancient does it seem. + +"If you take your reins in one hand," he says, "an easy way is to +hold the snaffle on your ring finger, and the left curb outside +the little finger, with the right curb between the middle and +fore fingers. Then, when you want to use both hands, put your +right little finger and ring finger between the right curb and +right snaffle, and hold your hands at exactly even distances from +your horse's head, with the two reins firmly nipped by the thumbs +resting on top of the fore-fingers. This is the way recommended +in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, in Colonel Dodge's 'Patroclus +and Penelope,' and you will see it in many very good hunting +pictures. + +"Colonel Anderson, in his 'On Horseback,' recommends dividing +the curb reins by the little finger of the left hand and the +snaffle reins by the middle finger, carrying the ends up +through the hand, and holding them by the thumb. Mr. Mead, in his +'Horsemanship for Women,' mentions this hold, but prefers taking +the curb on the ring finger, and the snaffle outside the little +finger, and between the forefinger and middle finger. This hold +is used in the British army, and it is convenient in school, +because if it be desirable to drop the curb in order to ride with +the snaffle only, you can do it by dropping your ring finger, +and, if your horse be moderately quiet, you can knot the curb +rein and let it lie on his neck. Besides, it makes the snaffle a +little tighter than the curb, and that is held to be a good thing +in England. An English soldier is prone to accuse American +cavalrymen of riding too much on the curb, and by the way, I have +heard English soldiers assert that they were taught the second +method, but it was a riding master formerly in the Queen's +service who told me that the third was preferred. + +"M. de Bussigny, in his little 'Handbook for Horsewomen,' gives +the preference to crossing the reins, the curb coming outside the +little finger and between the ring and middle finger, and the +snaffle between the little and ring fingers and the middle finger +and forefinger. I hold my won in that way when training a horse, +but it is better for you to use both hands on the reins, and he +would tell you so. You are more likely to sit square; it gives +you twice the hold, and then, too, you know where your right hand +is, and are not waving it about in the air, or devising queer +ways of holding your whip. Now your hour is over, and I will take +you off your horse. Wait until he is perfectly still, and the +groom has him by the head. Now drop your reins; let me take off +the foot straps; take your foot out of the stirrup; turn in the +saddle; put one hand on my shoulder and one on my elbow, and slip +down as lightly as you can." + +You glance at the clock, perceive that you have been I the saddle +almost an hour and a half, and murmur an apology. "Don't mind," is +the encouraging answer. "As long as a pupil does not complain and +call us stingy when we make her dismount, we do not say much. But +are you really going on the road, Monday, Miss Esmeralda?" "Yes, +I am," you answer. "Ah, well," he says, a little regretfully, +"don't forget, then. Hold on with your right knee and sit down +for the canter." + +What shall you do by way of exercise before Monday? Practise all +the old movements, a little of each one at a time, and take two +lengths of ribbon as wide as an ordinary rein, or, better still, +two leather straps, and fasten one to the knobs on the two sides +of a door and run the other through the keyhole. Call the knob +straps the snaffle reins, and the keyhole straps the curb, and, +sitting near enough to let them lie in your lap, practice picking +them up and adjusting them with your eyes shut. When you can do +it quickly and neatly, try and see with how little exertion you +can sway the door to left and right, and then practice holding +these dummy reins while standing on one foot and executing the +movement used in trotting. If the door move by a hair's breadth, +it will show you that you are pulling too much, and you must +remember that your hold on your horse's mouth gives you greater +leverage than you have on the door, and then, perhaps, you will +pity the poor beast a little now and then. + +What is that? Your master treated you as if you were an ignorant +girl? So you are, dear, and even if you were not, if you knew all +that there is in all the books, you might still be a bad +horsewoman, because you might now know enough to use your +knowledge. You don't care, and you feel very well, and are very +glad that you went? Of course, that is the invariable cry! And +you mean to take some more lessons if you find that you really +need them? Then leave your skirt in the dressing-room locker! You +will come back from your ride a wiser, but not a sadder, girl. +One cannot be sad on horseback. + + + + + +V. + + --Pad, pad, pad! Like a thing that was mad, + My chestnut broke away. + _Thornbury_. + + +Esmeralda was puzzled when she returned from her first riding +party. In the morning, looking very pretty in her borrowed riding +habit, her English hat with the hunting guard made necessary by +the Back Bay breezes, her brown gauntlets, and the one scarlet +carnation in her button-hole, she drove to the riding-school, +where she had agreed to meet Theodore and her other friends, not +like Mrs. Gilpin, lest all should say that she was proud, but +because her master had promised to lend her one of the school +horses, to put her ion the saddle and to adjust her stirrup, and +because she secretly felt that she would better give herself +every possible advantage in what, as it came nearer, assumed the +aspect of a trial rather than a pleasure. + +Beholding Ronald, the promised horse, severely correct in his +road saddle, and looking immensely tall as he stood on the stable +floor, she inly applauded her own wisdom, strongly doubting that +Theodore's unpractised arm would have tossed her into her place +as lightly as the master's, and she was secretly overjoyed when +the master himself mounted and joined the party with her, making +its number nine; Esmeralda herself, the graduate of three +lessons; Theodore, all his life accustomed to ride anything +calling itself a horse, but making no pretenses to mastery of the +equestrian science; the lawyer, understood, on his own authority, +to be well informed in everything; the society young lady, +erect, precise, self-satisfied; the Texan, riding with apparent +laziness, his hands rather high and seldom quiet, but not to +be shaken from his seat; the beauty, languid and secretly +discontented because her horse was "intended for a brunette, and +a ridiculous mount for a blonde"; Versatilia, who had "taken +up riding a little," and the cavalryman, calm, quiet, and +fraternally regarded by the master, as he reviewed the little +flock from the back of a horse which had been offered to him as +the paragon of its species, and for which and its kind, as he +announced after riding a square or two, he "was not paying a cent +a carload." + +"It is a lovely horse," said the beauty. "It is such a beautiful +color. But men never care for color." + +"Good color is a good thing, undoubtedly," said the master, "but +a beautiful horse is a good horse, not necessarily an animal +which would look well in a painted landscape, because its color +would harmonize with the hue of the trees." + +"She is a beautiful girl, isn't she," said Esmeralda, looking +admiringly at the beauty, who, having just remembered Tennyson's +line about swaying the rein with flying finger tips, was +executing some movements which made her horse raise his ears to +listen for the cause of such conduct, and then shake his head in +mild disapproval. + +"What do I care for a pretty girl?" demanded the master. "Pretty +rider is what I want to see, and 'pretty rider' is 'good rider.' +Wait until that girl trots three minutes or so, and see whether +or not she is pretty." + +The party went through the streets at a rapid walk, now and then +meeting a horse-car, now and then a stray wagon, but invariably +allowed to take its own way, with very little regard for the rule +of the road. The American who drives, whatever may be his social +station, admires the courage of the woman who rides, but he is +firmly convinced that she does not understand horses, and gives +her all the space available wherein to disport herself. + +"Are we all right in placing the ladies on the left?" asked +Theodore, turning to the master. + +"Of course," cried the lawyer. "We follow the English rule, and +the left was the place of safety for the lady in the days when +English equestrianism was born. Travelers took the left of the +road, and this placed the cavalier between his lady and any +possible danger." + +"And in the United States they take the right, and she is between +him and any possible danger," said the master. "It is the custom, +but it seems illogical and foolish. True, it removes any danger +that the lady may be crushed between her own horse and her +escort's, but who protects her from any passing car or carriage, +and in case of a runaway what can her escort, his left hand +occupied with his own reins, do to aid her with hers, or to +disentangle her foot from the stirrup or her habit from the +pommels in case she is thrown? Can he snatch her from the saddle, +after the matter of one of Joaquin Miller's young men? The truth +is that since the rule of the road is 'keep to the right,' the +rule of the saddle should be 'sit on the right,' but with a lady +on his bridle hand the horseman could not be at his best as an +escort, even then. + +"It is one of the many little absurdities in American customs; the +old story of the survival of the two buttons at the back of the +coat, and, by the way, Miss Esmeralda, the two buttons on the +back of your habit are out of place, not because of your tailor's +fault, but because of yours. They should make a line at right +angles with your horse's spinal column. Draw yourself back a +little, until you can feel the pommel under your right knee. +'Draw' yourself back; don't lean, but keep yourself perfectly +erect, your back perpendicular to your horse's. Sit a little to +the left; lean a little to the right. Let your left shoulder go +forward a little, your right shoulder backward. Now you are +exactly right. Try to remember your sensations at this minute, in +order to be able to reproduce them. When I say 'Careful,' pass +yourself in review and endeavor to feel where you are wrong. +But," addressing the cavalryman, who was in advance with +Versatilia, "is this procession a funeral?" + +"Not exactly," said the cavalryman, and the, after a backward +glance, he cried, in the fashion of a military riding-school +master: "Pr-r-re-pare to tr-r-r-ot--Trot!" + +Esmeralda remembered to shorten her reins, and resigned herself +to the Fates, who were propitious, enabling her to catch the +cadence of the trot, and to rise to it during the few seconds +before the cavalryman slackened rein. "Careful," said the master, +and she shook herself into place, eliciting a hearty "Good!" from +him. "Look at your pretty girl," he growled softly, but savagely, +and truly the beauty solicited attention. Slipping to the left in +her saddle, one elbow pointing toward Cambridgeport and the other +toward Dorchester, her right foot visible through her habit, and +her left all but out of the stirrup, she was attractive no +longer, and to complete the master's disgust she ejaculated: "My +hair is coming down!" + +"Better bring a nurse and a ladies' maid for her," he muttered to +Esmeralda, confidentially. "Hairpins in your saddle pocket? Well, +you are a sensible girl," and he rode forward with the little +packet, giving it to the lawyer to pass to the unfortunate young +woman. But here arose a little difficulty. 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 fingers. The +Texan, on her right hand, 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 animal. Versatilia exclaimed in +remonstrance, "Don't leave me," when the cavalryman said, "Wait a +second, I'll come and give them to her;" the master sat quiet and +smiling. + +"Why don't you dismount and give them to her?" cried Theodore, +and was out of his saddle, had placed the parcel in her hand, and +was back in his place again before either of the other three men +could speak. + +"Very well done," said the master, approvingly, "but not the +right thing to do. Never leave your saddle without good cause, +and never leave your horse loose for a moment. Yes, I saw that +you retained your hold of the reins; I was talking at Miss +Esmeralda." + +"Why didn't you make your horse step sideways?" he asked the +lawyer. + +"I can't. He won't. See there!" + +Sundry pulls, precisely like those which he might have used had +he intended the horse to turn, a pair of absolutely motionless +legs, and an unused whip were accepted as evidence that the +lawyer's "I can't" was perfectly true, and the master and the +cavalryman exchanged comprehending glances as the latter said: +"Well, don't mind. An eminent authority announced after the +Boston horse show of 1889 that high-school airs were of no use on +the road. To make a horse move a step sideways is the veriest +little zephyr of an air, but it would have been of some use to +you, then. Are we ready now? What's that? Dropped your whip?" + +Up went the Texan's left heel, catching cleverly on the saddle as +he dropped lightly to the right, after the fashion of the Arab, +the Moor, the Apache, of all the nations which ride for speed and +for fighting rather than for leaping and hunting, and he caught +the whip from the ground and was back in his place in a +twinkling. The ladies were unmoved, because inappreciative; the +lawyer looked savagely envious, the cavalryman and the master +approving, and Theodore, frankly admiring, but no one said +anything, the little cavalcade rearranged itself, and once more +moved on at a footpace until an electric car appeared. + +"Ronald is like a rock," said the master, "and you need not be +afraid, but I'll take this beast along in advance. He will shy, +or do some outrageous thing, and he has a mouth as sensitive as +the Mississippi's, and no more." + +The "beast" did indeed sidle and fret and prance, and manifest a +disposition to hasten to drown himself in the reservoir, beyond +the reach of self-propelling vehicles, and he repeated the +performance a the sight of two other cars, although evidently +less alarmed than at first, but the fourth car was in charge of a +kindly-disposed driver, who came to a dead stop, out of pure +amiability. + +This was too much for the "beast" to endure; a moving house he +was beginning to regard as tolerable, but a house which stopped +short and glared at him with all its windows was more than horse +nature could endure, and he started for the next county to +institute an inquiry as to whether such actions were to be +allowed, but found himself forced to stop, and not altogether +comfortable, while the master cried good-naturedly: "Go along and +take care of your car. I'll take care of my horse!" + +"More than some other folks can do," said the driver, with a +quiet grin at the lawyer, whose angry, "Here, what are you +doing!" shouted to his plunging steed, had brought all the women +in the car to the front, to explain to one another that "that man +was abusing his horse, poor thing." + +The car glided off, and Versatilia turned to look at it; her +horse stumbled slightly, jerking her wrists sharply, and but for +the cavalryman's quick shifting of the reins to his right hand +and his strong grasp of her reins with his left, she might have +been in danger. + +"Never look back," lectured the master. Esmeralda was his pupil, +and he would have taken the whole centennial quadrille and all +the cabinet ladies to point his moral, had he seen them making +equestrian blunders. "Where your horse has been, where, he is, is +the past. Look to the future, straight before you." + +"The cavalryman looked back just now," Esmeralda ventured to say. + +"Yes, but he turned his horse very slightly to do it, and he may +do almost anything because he has a perfect seat, and is a good +horseman." + +"Suppose I hear something or somebody coming up behind me?" + +"If it have any intelligence, it will not hurt you. If it have +none, looking will do you no good. Turn out to the right as far +as you can and look to the front harder than ever, so as to be +ready to guide your horse and to avoid any obstacles in case he +should start to run. What is the trouble with the ladies now?" + +"O, dear!" cried the beauty to the society young lady, "your +horse." + +"What's the matter with him?" asked the other, still very stately +and not turning. + +"Oh! The dreadful creature has caught his tail on my horse's +bit," said the beauty. + +"Then you'd better take your horse's bit away," retorted the +other. "My horse's eyes are not at that end of him, and he can't +be expected to look at his tail." + +"And you may be kicked," added the Texan. "Check him a little; +there! We ought not to be so close together, and we ought to be +moving a little, I think. Shall we trot again?" + +Everybody assented, the cavalryman and Versatilia set off, the +others followed as best they might, the beauty "going to pieces" +in a minute or two, according to the master, the society young +lady stiffening visibly, losing the cadence of the trot very +soon, but making no outcry as she was tossed about uncomfortably, +and not bending her head to look at her reins, as Versatilia did. + +"There's the advantage of training in other things," said the +master. "She's a good dancer and a good amateur actress, and she +is controlling herself as she would on a ballroom floor, and +remembering the spectators as she would on the stage. She's no +rider, but is perfectly selfish and self-possessed, and she will +cheat her escort into thinking that she is one. Glad she's no +pupil of mine, however! She always heads the conversation, one of +her friends told me the other day. That is to say, she is always +acting. I can't teach such a person anything; nobody can. She can +teach herself, as she can think of herself and love herself, but +she can't go outside of herself--and the lawyer will find it +out after he has married her." + +Esmeralda and Theodore stared in astonishment. + +"Walk," said the master, noticing that his pupil looked too warm +for comfort, and the three allowed the others to go on without +them. "Careful," he added, and Esmeralda, adjusting herself +studiously, asked: "Is it really easier to ride on the road than +it is in the school? It seems so." + +"It is a little, especially if the corners of the ring are so +near together that the horse goes in a circle, for then the rider +has to lean to the right, while on the road she may sit straight. +Give me the right kind of horse for my pupil to ride, and I would +as leif give lessons on the road as anywhere, but it is not well +for the pupil, whose attention is distracted by a thousand +things, and who learns less in a year than she would in a month +in school. There is no finish about the riding of a woman so +taught. She may be pretty, as you said of one of your friends, +she may be self-possessed, like the other, but she will betray +her ignorance every moment. You were surprised just now at what I +said of the society young lady. A woman can't cheat an old +riding-master, after he has seen her in the saddle. He knows her +and her little ways by heart. Shall we start up? Ah!" + +Ronald, the "steady as a rock," was off and away at a canter; +Theodore was starting to gallop in pursuit, but was sharply +ordered back by the master, who went on himself at a rather slow +canter, ready to break into a gallop if his pupil were thrown, +but keeping out of Ronald's hearing, lest he should be further +startled by finding himself followed. There was a clear stretch +of road before her, and Esmeralda sat down as firmly as possible, +brought her left knee up against the pommel, clung firmly with +her right knee, held her hands low and her thumbs as firm as +possible, and thought very hard. + +"Very soon," she said to herself, "I shall be thrown and dragged, +and hat a figure I shall be going home, if I', not killed! But I +sha'n't be! I shall be ridiculous, and that's worse." Here she +swept by the riding party, but as Versatilia and the beauty +turned to look at her, and forgot to control their horses, the +cavalryman and the Texan had to do it for them, and could do +nothing for Esmeralda except to shout "Whoa," which Ronald very +properly disregarded. The master came up, and the society young +lady addressed him with, "Very silly of her to try to exhibit +herself so, isn't it?" + +"That's no exhibition; that's a runaway," said the master grimly. +"She's doing well too, poor girl," and he and Theodore went on +after the flying rider. Two or three carriages, the riders +staring with horror; a pedestrian or two, innocently wondering +why a lady should be on the road alone; a small boy whistling +shrilly; these were all the spectators of Esmeralda's flight. She +felt desolate and deserted, and yet sure that it was best that +she should be alone, since the master could overtake her if he +would, and she wondered if she should be very seriously injured +when thrown at last, but all the time she was talking to Ronald +in a voice carefully kept at a low pitch, and her hands were held +with a steadiness utterly new to them, and the good horse went on +regularly, but faster and faster. + +"That isn't a real runaway," said the master to himself. "Ah, I +see! Her whip is down and strikes him at every stride, and so she +unconsciously urges him forward. If there were a side road here, +I'd gallop around and meet her, or if there were fields on either +side, I'd leap the fence and make a circuit and cut her off, but +through this place, with banks like a railway cutting on each +side, there is nothing to do." + +Swifter and swifter! Esmeralda began to feel weaker, thought of +Theodore, and of some other things of which she never told even +him, said a little prayer, but all the time remembered her +master's injunctions, and kept her place firmly, waiting for the +final, and, as she believed, inevitable crash, when lo! She saw +that just in front of her lay a long piece of half-mended road, +full of ugly little stones, and she turned Ronald on it, with a +triumphant, "See how you like that, sir," and then sawed his +mouth. In half a minute he was walking. In another the master was +beside her with words of approval. Theodore galloped up, pale and +anxious, and between the two she had quite as much praise as was +good for her, and, being told of the position of the whip, found +her confidence in Ronald restored. + +"But you should never start up hastily," said the master. "Take +time for everything, and check your horse the instant he goes +faster than you mean to have him. You are a good girl, and you +shall not be scolded, or snubbed, either," he muttered, and the +party came up, the cavalryman and the Texan loud in praise, the +other four clamorous with questions and advice. + +"You look quite disheveled," said the society young lady +agreeably. + +"Ladies often do after they have been on the road a little while. +Excuse me, but one of your skirt buttons is unfastened," said the +master, and, not knowing how to pass her reins into her right +hand so as to use her left to repair the accident, the society +young lady was effectually silenced, while the master, holding +Esmeralda's horse, made her wipe her face, arrange the curly +locks flying about her ears, readjust her hat, and generally +smooth her plumage, until she was once more comfortable. + +After a little, the master proposed a trot up the hill, and +instructed Esmeralda to lean forward as her horse climbed upward, +"If you should have to trot down hill, lean back a little, and +keep your reins short," he said. + +The lawyer and the society young lady, essaying to descend the +next hill brilliantly, barely escaped going over their horses' +heads, and all four ladies were glad when they perceived that +they were going homeward. + +"I like it," Esmeralda said to the master, "but I wish I knew +more, and I'm going to learn, and I see now that three lessons +isn't enough, even for a beginning." + +"I knew a girl who took seventeen lessons and then was thrown," +said the society young lady. "Native ability is better than +teaching. I don't believe any master could make a rider of you, +Esmeralda." + +"A good teacher can make a rider out of anyone who will study," +said the master, to whom she looked for approval. "As for +seventeen lessons, they are better than seven, of course, but +they are not much, after all. How many dancing lessons, music +lessons, elocution lessons have you taken? More than seventeen? I +thought so. Here's a railroad bridge, but no train coming. Had +one been approaching, and had there been no chance to cross it +before it came, I should have made you turn Ronald the other way, +Miss Esmeralda, so that if he ran he would run out of what he +thinks is danger, and not into it. And now for an easy little +trot home." + +An easy little trot it was, and Esmeralda, left at her own door, +where a groom waited to take her horse to the stable, was happy, +but puzzled. "Theodore," she cried, as soon as he appeared in the +evening, "did you ask the master to go with us? He treated me +just as he does in school." + +"Yes, I did," said Theodore boldly. "I was afraid to take charge +of you alone. That was a 'road lesson.'" + +"You--you--exasperating thing!" cried Esmeralda. "But then, +you were sensible." + +"That's tautology," said Theodore. + + + + + +VI. + + A solitary horseman might have been seen. + _G.P.R. James_. + + +And so you are feeling very meek after your road lesson and your +runaway, Esmeralda, and are a perfect Uriah Heep for 'umbleness, +and are, henceforth and forever, going to believe every syllable +that your master utters, and to obey every command the instant +that it is given, and--there, that will do! 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 again? +One private lesson! Did your master advise it? No-no, but he +consented to give it, when you had persuaded him that it would be +best for you? When you had persuaded him? Behold the American +pupil's definition of obedience: to follow commands dictated by +herself! However, there is no use in trying to eradicate the +ideas bequeathed and fostered by a hundred years of national +self-government, so go to the school at the hour when no other +pupils are expected. + +The horses pace very solemnly around the great ring, and you +adjust yourself with wonderful dignity, 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 lessons, when other pupils were present, but now he leaves +your side and takes a position in the centre of the ring, whence +he addresses you thus: + +"Keep your reins even! The right ones are too short, the left too +long! Stop him! That is not stopping him! He took two steps +forward after he checked himself. Go forward, and try again when +I tell you. Stop! Not so hard, not so hard! You are making him +back! Extend your arms forward! There! A little more, and you +would have made him rear! Whoa! Wo-ho! Now listen! Not so! Don't +drop your reins in that way, and sit so carelessly that a start +would throw you from your place! Never leave your horse to +himself a second! Sit as well as you can, look between your +horse's ears and listen! Always use some discretion in choosing +your place to stop. Do not try to stop when turning a corner, +even to avoid danger, but rather change your direction. In the +ring, never stop on the track, unless in obedience to your +masters order, but turn out into the centre, but when you have +once told your horse to stop, make him do it, for his sake, as +well as for your own, if you have to spend an hour in the effort. +And it will be an hour well spent, so that you need not lose +patient, and if you do lose it, do not allow your horse to +perceive it. + +"To stop, you should press your leg and your whip against your +horse's sides; lift your hands a very little, and turn them in +toward your body, lean back and draw yourself up. There are six +things to do: two to your horse, one on each side of him, two +with your hands and two with your body, and you must do them +almost simultaneously. Unless you do the first two, your horse +will surely take a forward step or two after stopping, in order +to bring himself into a comfortable position. If you do not cease +doing the last four the moment that your horse has stopped, he +may rear or he may back several steps, and he should never do +that, but should await an order for each step. Now, do you +remember the six things? Very well! Go forward! Stop! Did I tell +you to do anything with your arms? No> Well, why did you bring +your elbows back of your waist, then? It is allowable to do that +--to save your life, but not to stop your horse. Bend your hands +at the wrist, turning the knuckles, if need be, until they are at +right angles with their ordinary position, so that the back of +your hand is toward your horse's ears, but keep the thumb +uppermost all the time. + +"Now, think it over a moment! Go forward! Stop! Pretty well! Go +on! Don't lean forward too much when you start, and sit up again +instantly. + +"Now walk around the school once, and go into all the corners. +Stop! You stopped pretty well, but you leaned back too far, and +you did not draw yourself up at all. Mind, you draw 'yourself' +up; you don't try to pull the bit up through the corners of your +horse's mouth. What I wanted to say was that a turn is just half +a stop as far as your hands, leg and whip are concerned. To turn +to the right, use your right hand and whip, but keep your left +leg and hand steady; to turn to the left, use your left leg and +hand and keep your whip and whip hand steady. When you turn to +the right, lean to the right instead of backward; 'lean,' not +twist to the right, and turn your head to the right so as to see +what may be there. + +"If you were on the road, and did not turn your head before going +down a side street, you might knock over a bicycle rider, and +thereby hurt your horse, which would be a pity," he says, with +apparent indifference as to the bicycle rider's possible +injuries. "Now go around the school again. Left shoulder forward! +Right shoulder back! Sit to the right! Lean to the left! I told +you to sit to the left, the other day? And that is the reason +that I have told you to sit to the right to-day. You over-do it. +Miss Esmeralda, if I were talking for my own pleasure, I should +say pretty things to you, but I am talking to teach you, and when +I say 'This is wrong! This is wrong!' and again 'This is wrong!' +I do it for you, not for myself. When your father and mother say +'This is wrong; you must not do it, or you will be sorry,' you do +not look at them as if you thought them to be unreasonable--or, +I trust that you do not," he adds, mentally. "Heaven only knows +what an American girl may do when anybody says, 'You must not' to +her. + +"Now," he goes on aloud, "it is the same with your teacher; he +says 'You are wrong,' lest you should be sorry by and by, and he +is patient and says it many times, as your father and mother do, +and he says it every time that you do anything wrong, unless you +do so many wrong things at once that he cannot speak of each one. +Now you shall turn to the right, and remember that a turn is half +a stop. Go across the school and then turn to the left! Keep a +firm hold on your right rein now so as to keep your horse close +to the wall. Where, where are your toes? It was not necessary to +make you turn so as to see your right foot through your riding +habit as I can now, to know that they were pointing outward. Your +right shoulder told the story by drooping forward. M. de Bussigny +lays especial stress on this point in his manual, and you will +find that your whole position depends more on that seemingly +unimportant right foot than on many other things, so bend your +will to holding it properly, close against the saddle. Walk on +now, keeping on a straight line. If you cannot do it in the +school, you cannot on the road, and many an ugly scrape against +walls, horse-cars, and other horses you will receive unless you +can keep to the right and in a straight line. Now turn to the +left, and go straight across the school. Straight! Fix your eye +on something when you start, and ride at it with as much +determination as if it were a fence; now you turn to the right +again and go forward. Have you read Delsarte?" + +No, you murmur to yourself, you have not read Delsarte, and, if +you had, you do not believe that you could remember it or +anything else just at present. What an endless string of +directions! You wish that there was another pupil with you to +take the burden of a few of them! You wish you were--oh! +Anywhere. This is your obedience, is it Esmeralda? Well, you +don't care! This is dull! Your horse thinks so, too. He gently +tries the reins, and, finding that you offer no resistance, he +decides to take a little exercise, and starts off at a canter, +keeping away from the wall most piously, avoiding the corners as +if some Hector might be in ambuscade there to catch and tame him, +and rushing on faster and faster, as you do nothing in particular +to stop him. + +"Lean to the right," cries the master, and you obey, but the +horse continues his canter, almost a gallop now, when suddenly +your wits return to you, you draw back first the right hand and +then the left, he begins to trot, and by some miracle you begin +to rise, and continue to do it, you do not know exactly how, +feeling a delight in it, an exhilarating, exultant sensation as +if flying. "Keep your right leg close to the saddle below the +knee and turn your toes in!" You obey, and even remember to press +your left knee to the saddle also and to keep your heel down. +"Don't rise to the left! Rise straight! Your horse is circling to +the right, and you must lean to the right to rise straight! Take +him into the corners so that he will move more on a straight +line, and you can rise straight and be as much at ease as if on +the road. Whoa! Now, don't change your position, but look at +yourself! You did not shorten your reins when you began to trot, +and, if your horse had stumbled, you could not have aided him to +regain his balance. Had you shortened them properly, you could, +by sitting down, using your leg and whip lightly and turning your +hands toward your body, have brought him down to a walk without +hurling yourself forward against the pommel in that fashion. Now, +adjust yourself and your reins, and start forward once more," and +you obey, and are beginning to flatter yourself that your master +does not know that your canter was accidental, when he warns you +against allowing a horse to do anything unbidden. + +"You should have stopped him at once," he says. "He will very +likely try to repeat his little maneuver in a few minutes. When +he does, check him instantly, not by your voice, but as you have +been directed. And now, have you read Delsarte? No? If you have +time, you might read a chapter or two with advantage, simply for +the sake of learning that a principle underlies all attitudes. + +"He divides the body into three parts; the head, torso, and legs, +and he teaches that the first and third should act on the same +line, while the second is in opposition to them. For instance, if +you be standing and looking toward the right, your weight should +rest on your right leg and your torso should be turned to the +left. Neither turn should be exaggerated, but the two should be +exactly proportioned, one to another. + +"Now for riding, your body is divided into three parts, your head +and torso making one, your legs above the knee, the second, and +your legs below the knee, the third, and you will find that the +first and third will act together, whether you desire it or not. +Your right foot is properly placed now, but turn its toes outward +and upward; you see what becomes of your right shoulder. Now try +to make a circle to the right, a volte we call it, because it is +best to become accustomed to a few French words, as there are +really no English equivalents for many of the terms used in the +art of equestrianism. + +"To make a volte you have only to turn to the right and to keep +turning, going steadily away from the wall until opposite your +starting point, and then regaining it by a half-circle. Making +voltes is not only a useful exercise, showing your horse that you +really mean to guide him, and teaching you to execute a movement +steadily, but it affords an excellent way of diverting the +horse's attention from the mischief which Satan is always ready +to find for idle hoofs. Give him a few voltes and he forgets his +plans for setting off at a canter. Do you understand? Very well. +When you are half-way down the school try to make a volte. I will +give you no order. Your horse would understand if I did and would +begin the movement himself, and you should do it unaided." + +You try the volte, 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 things. You are conscious of not making a +respectable curve in return, and you draw a deep breath of +disgust as you say, "That was very bad, wasn't it?" + +"Not for the first time. Keep your left hand and leg steady, and +try it again on the other side of the ring. Better! Now walk +around, and make him go into the corners, if you have to double +your left wrist in doing it, but don't move your arm, and when +you begin to bend you right wrist to turn, straighten your left, +and remember to lean your body and turn your head, if you want +your horse to turn his body. Your wrist acts on his head and +keeps him in line; your whip and leg bring his hind legs under +him, but you must move your body if you want him to move his. + +"Now, you shall make a half volte, or shall 'change hands,' as it +is sometimes called, because, if you start with your left hand +nearest the wall, you will come back to the wall with your right +hand nearest to it; or, to speak properly, 'if you start on the +right hand of the school, you will end on the left hand.' For the +half volte, make a half circle to the right, and then ride in a +diagonal line to a point some distance back on your track, 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 school, and in +a position to practice keeping your horse to the right. Try it, +beginning about two thirds of the way down the long side of the +school. Now to get back to the right hand, you may turn to the +left across the school, and turn to the left again. + +"There is a better way of dong it, but that is enough for to-day. +Walk now. Do you see how much better your horse carries himself, +and how much better you carry your hands, after those little +exercises? Now you must try and imagine yourself doing them over +and over and over again, to accustom your mind to them, just as +when learning to play scales and five-finger exercises you used +to think them out while walking. Shall you not need pictures and +diagrams to assist you? Not if you have as much imagination as +any horsewoman should have. Not if you have enough imagination to +manage a cow, much more to enter into the feelings of a good +horse. Pictures are invaluable to the stupid; they benumb and +enervate the clever, and turn them into apish imitators, instead +of making them able to act from their own knowledge and volition. +Theory will not make you a good rider, but a really good rider +without theory is an impossibility, and your theory must have a +deeper seat than your retinae. Now, you shall have a very little +trot, and then you may walk for ten minutes, and try to do voltes +and half voltes by yourself, asking me for aid if you cannot +remember how to execute the movements. Doing them will help you +to pass away the time when you are too tired to trot, and will +keep you from having any dull moments." + +And you, Esmeralda, you naughty girl! You forgot all about your +sulkiness half an hour ago, and, looking your master in the face, +you say: "But nobody ever has dull moments in riding-school." +There! Finish your lesson and walk off to the dressing-room; you +will be trying to trade horses with somebody the next thing, you +artful, flattering puss! + + + + + +VII. + + Here we are riding, she and I! + _Browning_. + + +What is it now, Esmeralda? By your blushing and stammering it is +fairly evident that another of your devices for learning on the +American plan--that is to say, by not studying--is in full +possession of your fancy, and that again you expect to become a +horsewoman by a miracle; come, what is it? A music ride? Nell has +an acquaintance who always rides to music, and asserts that it is +as easy as dancing; that the music "fairly lifts you out of the +saddle," and that the pleasure of equestrian exercise is doubled +when it is done to the sound of the flute, violin, and bassoon, +or whatever may be the riding-school substitutes? + +As for lifting you out of the saddle, Esmeralda, it is quite +possible that music might execute that feat, promptly and neatly, +once, and might leave you out, were it produced suddenly and +unexpectedly by "dot leetle Sherman bad," and it is undoubtedly +true that, were you a rider, music would exhilarate you, quicken +your motions, stimulate your nerves, and assist you as it assists +a soldier when marching. It is also true that it will aid even +you somewhat, by indicating on what step you should rise, so that +your motions will not alternate with those of your horse, to your +discomfiture and his disgust, and that thus, by mechanically +executing the movement, you may acquire the power of seeing that +you are not performing it when you rise once a minute or +thereabouts, but a music ride is an exercise which a wise pupil +will not take until advised thereto by her master. Still, have +your own way! Why did George Washington and the other fathers of +the republic exist, if its daughters must be in bondage to common +sense and expediency? + +Borrow Nell's habit once more, 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 review, and who may +select you as the object of their especial scrutiny. Dress at +home, if possible; if not, go to the school early, and array +yourself rapidly, but carefully, for there may be fifty riders +present during the evening, and there will be little room to +spare on the mounting-stand, and no minutes to waste on buttoning +gloves, shortening skirt straps or tightening boot lacings. +Remember all that you have been taught about mounting and +about taking your reins, and think assiduously of it, with a +determination to pay no attention to the gallery. There will be +no spectators on the mounting-stand, and Theodore, who will take +charge of you in the ring, will mount before you do, and when you +have been put in your saddle by one of the masters, and start, he +will take his place on your right, nearer the centre of the ring. +While you are walking your horses slowly about, turning corners +carefully and never ceasing to control your reins, warn him that +when you say, "Centre," he must turn out to the right instantly, +that you also may do so. If possible, you will not pronounce the +word, but will ride as long as the horses canter or trot in time +to the music. + +"Do you understand," Theodore asks, "that these horses adjust +their gait to the music?" + +"So Nell's friend says." + +"Well, I don't believe it. They are good horses, but I don't +believe that they practice circus tricks. Why must I go to the +centre the minute that you bid me? Why couldn't you pull up and +pass out behind me?" + +"Because if I did, somebody might ride over me. It is not proper +to stop while on the track." + +"Oh-h! How long do they trot or canter at a time? Half an hour?" + +"Only a few minutes," you answer, wondering whether Theodore +really supposes that you could canter, much less trot half an +hour, even if stimulated by the music of the spheres. + +"That's a pretty rider," he says, as a girl circles lightly past, +sitting fairly well, and rising straight, but with her arms so +much extended that her elbow is the apex of a very obtuse angle, +though her forearms are horizontal. You explain this point to +Theodore, who replies that she looks pretty, and seems to be able +to trot for some time, whereupon your heart sinks within you. +What will he say when he sees the necessary brevity of your +performance? + +Other riders enter: two or three men mounted on their own horses, +beautiful creatures concerning whose value fabulous tales are +told in the stable; the best rider of the school, very quietly +and correctly dressed, and managing her horse so easily that the +women in the gallery do not perceive that she is guiding him at +all, although the real judges, old soldiers, a stray racing man +or two, the other school pupils and the master--regard her +admiringly, and the grooms, as they bring in new horses, keep an +eye on her and her movements, as they linger on their way back to +the stable. + +"Her horse is very good," Theodore admits, "but I don't think +much of her. Well, yes, she is pretty," he admits, as she +executes the Spanish trot for a few steps and then pats her +horse's shoulder; "it's pretty, but anybody could do it on a +trained horse, couldn't they, sir?" he asks your master, who +rides up, mounted on his own pet horse. + +"Anybody who knew how. The horse has been trained to answer +certain orders, but the orders must be given. An untrained horse +would not understand the orders, no matter how good an animal he +might be. Antinous might not have been able to ride Bucephalus, +and I don't believe that Alexander could have coaxed Rosinante +into a Spanish trot. It isn't enough to have a Corliss engine, or +enough to have a good engineer: you must have them both, and they +must be acquainted with one another. I don't believe that horse +would do that for you." + +"No, I don't think he would," Theodore says dryly, for he has +been watching, and has reluctantly owned to himself that he does +not see how the movement is effected. Meantime, you, Esmeralda, +have been arduously devoting yourself to maintaining a correct +attitude, and are rewarded by hearing somebody in the gallery +wonder whether you represent the kitchen poker or Bunker Hill +Monument. + +"Don't mind," your master says, encouragingly. "It is better to +be stiffly erect than to be crooked, and as for the person who +spoke, she could not ride a Newfoundland dog," and with that he +touches his hat, and rides lightly across the ring to speak to a +lady whose horse has, in the opinion of the gallery, been showing +a very bad temper, 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 needed. The lady nods in answer to +something which the master says, the two draw near to the wall, +side by side, the others fall in behind them, and the band begins +a waltz, playing rather deliberately at first, but soon slightly +accelerating the time. + +There is very little actual need of guiding your horse, +Esmeralda, because long habit has taught him what to do at a +music-ride, but you do right to continue to endeavor to make him +obey you. Should he stumble; should that man riding before you +and struggling to make his horse change his leading foot fail in +the attempt, and cause the poor creature to fall; should the +rider behind you lose control of her horse, your firm hold of the +reins would be of priceless value to you, but now the waltz +rhythm suddenly changes to that of a march, and your horse begins +to trot, slowly and with little action at first, and then with a +freer, longer stride which really lifts you out of the saddle, +sending you rather too high for grace, indeed, but making the +effort very slight for you, and enabling you to think about your +elbows, and sitting to the right and keeping your right shoulder +back and your right foot close to the saddle and pointing +downward, and your left knee also close, and "about seventy-five +other things," as you sum up the case to yourself. Thanks to +this, you are enabled to continue until the music stops, and +Theodore says, approvingly, "Well, you can ride a little." + +"A very little," your master says. She has learned something, of +course, but it would be the unkindest of flattery for me to fell +her that she does well." + +"One must begin to ride in early childhood," Theodore says. + +"One should begin to be taught in childhood," the master amends, +"but it is not absolutely necessary. Some of the best riders in +the French Army never mounted until they went to the military +school, and some of the best riders at West Point only know a +horse by sight until they fall into the clutches of the masters +there, and then!" His countenance expresses deep commiseration. + +"Now," he adds, "if you take my advice, you two, you will take +places in the centre of the ring; you will sit as well as you +know how, Miss Esmeralda, and you will watch the others through +the next music. It is perfectly allowable," he adds, drawing rein +a moment as he passes, "to sit a little carelessly when your +horse is at rest, always keeping firm hold of the reins, but I +would rather that you did not do it until you had ridden a little +more and are firmer in your seat. Hollow your waist the least in +the world, for the sake of our poker-critic in the gallery, and +watch for bad riding as well as for good," and away he goes, and +again the double circle of riders sweeps around the ring, and you +have time to see that the horses seem to enjoy the motion, and +that their action is more easy and graceful than it is when they +are obeying the commands of poor riders. + +Theodore indulges in a little sarcasm at the expense of a man +whose elbows are on a level with his shoulders, while his two +hands are within about three inches of one another on the reins, +and his horse has as full possession of his head as of his body +and legs, which is saying much, for his riders toes are pointing +earthward and his heels apparently trying to find a way to one +another through the body of his steed. Another man, riding at an +amble into which he has forced his fat horse by using a Mexican +bit, and keeping his wrists in constant motion; and another, who +leans backward until his nose is on a level with the visor of his +cap, also attract his attention, but he persists in his opinion +that the best riders among the ladies are those who can trot and +canter the longest, until your master, coming up, says in answer +to your protest against such heresy, "No. Ease and a good seat +are indeed essential, but they are not everything. They insure +comfort and confidence, but not always safety. It is well to be +able to leap a fence without being thrown. It is better to know +how to stop and open a gate and shut it after you, lest some day +you should have a horse which cannot leap, or a sprained wrist +which may make the leap imprudent for yourself. You can acquire +the seat almost insensibly while learning the management, but you +must study in order to learn the management. However, you came +mainly for enjoyment to-night, I think. Go and ride some more." + +And you obey, and you have the enjoyment. And when you go to the +dressing-room, it is with a feeling of perfect indifference to +the gallery critics, and when you come down, ready for the +street, you have a little gossip with the master. + +This is the only kind of music ride, he tells you, practicable +for riders of widely varying ability, but the ordinary circus is +but a poor display of horsemanship compared to what may be seen +in some private evening classes in this country, or in military +schools. There are groups of riders in Boston and in New York, +friends who have long practiced together, who can dancer the +lancers and Virginia reels as easily on horseback as on foot, and +who can ride at the ring as well as Lord Lindesay himself, or as +well as the pretty English girls who amuse themselves with the +sport in India. + +"Just think," you sigh, "to be able to make your horse go forward +and back, and to move in a circle, a little bit of a circle, and +to do all of it exactly in time! Oh!" + +And then, seeing Theodore perfectly unmoved, your master tells of +the military music rides when, rank after rank, the soldiers dash +across the wide spaces of the school and stop at a word, or by a +preconcerted, silent signal, every horse's head in line, every +left hand down, saber or lance exactly poised, every foot +motionless, horse and rider still as if wrought from bronze. 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 serpent, each horse moving at speed, each one +obeying as implicitly as any creature of brass and iron moved by +steam. And then he talks of broadsword fights, in which the left +hand, managing the horse, outdoes the cunning of the right, and +of the great reviews, when, if ever, a monarch must feel his +power as he sees his squadrons dash past him, saluting as one +man, and reflects on the expenditure of mental and physical power +represented in that one moment's display. + +"You can't learn to do such things as these," he says, "by mere +rough riding. Why, only the other day, when Queen Victoria went +to Sandringham, the gentlemen of the Norfolk County hunt turned +out to escort her carriage, all in pink, all wearing the green +velvet caps of the hunt, all splendidly mounted and perfectly +appointed. They were a magnificent sight, and it was no wonder +that Her Majesty looked at them with approval. + +"In a dash across country they would probably have surpassed any +other riders in the world, unless, perhaps, those of some other +English country, but when Her Majesty and the Prince of Wales +appeared at a front window, and the gentlemen rode past to salute +them, what happened? The first three or four ranks went on well +enough, although Frenchmen, or Spaniards, or Germans would have +done better, because they, had they chosen, would have saluted +and then reined backward, but the Englishmen made a gallant show, +and Her Majesty smiled. Somebody raised a cheer, and the horses +began to rear and perform movements not named in the school +manuals. The Queen laughed outright, and the gentlemen finished +their pretty parade in some confusion. Now a very little school +training would have prevented that accident, and the huntsmen +would have been as undisturbed as Queen Christina was that day +when her horse began to plunge while in a procession, and she +quickly brought him to his senses, and won the heart of every +Spaniard who saw her by showing that 'the Austrian' could ride. +An English hunting-man's seat is so good that he is often +careless about fine details, but a trained horseman is careless +about nothing, and a trained horsewoman is like unto him." + +And now the lights are out, and you and Theodore go away, and, +walking home, lay plans for further work in the saddle, for he, +too, has caught the riding-fever, and now you begin to think +about class lessons. + + + + + +VIII. + + All in a wow. + _Sothern_. + + +And you really fancy, Esmeralda, that you are ready for class +lessons? You have been in the saddle only six times, remember. +But you have been assured, on the highest authority, that fifty +lessons in class are worth a hundred private lessons? And the +same authority says that the class lessons should be preceded by +at least twice as much private instruction as you have enjoyed; +but, naturally, you suppress this unfavorable context. You think +that you cannot begin to subject yourself to military discipline +so soon? + +After that highly edifying statement of your feelings, Esmeralda, +hasten away to school before the dew evaporates from your dawning +humility, and make arrangements for entering a class of +beginners. You are fortunate in arriving half way between two +"hours," and find to your delight that you may begin to ride with +five or six other pupils on the next stroke of the clock, and you +hasten to array yourself, and come forth just in time to see +another class, a long line of pretty girls, making its closing +rounds, the leader sitting with exquisitely balanced poise, which +seems perfectly careless, but is the result of years of training +and practice; others following her with somewhat less grace, but +still accomplishing what even your slightly taught vision +perceives to be feats of management far beyond you; still others, +one blushing little girl with her hat slung on her arm, the heavy +coils of her hair falling below her waist; and an assistant +master riding with the last pupil, who is less skillful than the +others, while another master rides up and down the line or stands +still in the centre of the ring, criticising, exhorting, +praising, using sarcasm, entreaty and sharp command, until the +zeal and energy of all Gaul seem centered in his speech. + +The clock strikes, and in a trice the whole class is dismounted, +and its members have scampered away to make themselves presentable +for the journey home, and to you, awaiting your destiny in the +reception room, enter Versatilia, the beauty, and the society young +lady, and Nell, and you stare at them in wrathful astonishment +fully equalled by theirs, and then, in the following grand outburst +of confession, you are informed that, each one having planned to +outgeneral the others and to become a wondrous equestrian, the +Fates and the wise fairy who, sitting in a little room overlooking +the ring, presides over the destinies of classes, have willed that +you should be taught together. + +"And there are three other young ladies who have never ridden at +all," the wise fairy says, "and they are to ride behind you, and +you must do very well in order to encourage them," she adds with +a kind smile; and then there is a general muster of grooms and +horses, and in a moment you are all in your saddles and walking +about the ring, into which, an instant after, another lady rides +easily and gracefully, to be saluted by both masters with a sigh +of relief, and requested to take the lead, which she does, +trotting lightly across the ring, wheeling into line and falling +into a walk with trained precision, and now the lesson really +begins. + +"You must understand, ladies," says the teacher, that you must +always, in riding in class, keep a distance of about three feet +between your horse and the one before you, and that you must +preserve this equally in the corners, on the short sides of the +school, and on the long sides." + +"That's easy enough, I'm sure," says the society young lady, +taking it upon herself to answer, and eliciting an expression of +astonishment from the teacher, not because he is surprised, habit +already rendering him sadly familiar with young women of her +type, but because he wishes to relegate her to her proper +position of submissive silence as soon as may be. + +"You think so?" he asks. "Then we shall depend on you to regard +the distance with great accuracy. At present you are two feet too +far in the rear. Forward! Now, ladies, when I say 'forward,' it +is not alone for one; it is for all of you; each one must look +and see whether or not her horse is in the right place. And she +must not bend sideways to do it, Miss Versatilia. She must look +over her horse's head between his ears. Now, forward! Now, look +straight between your horse's ears, each one of you, and see +something on the horse before you that is just on a line with the +top of his head, and use that as a guide to tell you whether or +not you are in place! Now, forward, Miss--Miss Lady! Not so +fast! Keep walking! Do not let him trot! Keep up in the corners! +Do not let your horse go there to think! Use your whip lightly! +Not so, not so!" as the society young lady brings down her whip, +half on the shoulder of gentle Toto, half on his saddle, and sets +him dancing lightly out of line, to the discomfiture of +Versatilia's horse, who follows him from a sense of duty. + +"Take your places again," cries your teacher, "and keep to the +wall! If you had had proper control of your horse, that would not +have happened, Miss Versatilia! Now, Miss Lady, hold your whip in +the hollow of your hand, and use it by a slight movement, not by +raising your arm and lashing, lashing, lashing as if you were on +the race course. A lady is not a jockey, and she should employ +her whip almost as quietly as she moves her left foot. Forward, +forward! And keep on the track, ladies! Keep your horses' heads +straight by holding your reins perfectly even, then their bodies +will be straight, and you will make one line instead of being on +six lines as you are now. And, Miss Esmeralda, forward! Use your +whip! Not so gently! It is not always enough to give your horse +one little tap. Give him many, one after the other with quickened +movement, so that he will understand that you are in a hurry. It +is like the reveille which sounds ever louder until everybody is +awake! + +"Now, you must not make circles! Make squares! Go into the +corners! Don't pull on your horse's head, Miss Nell! He thinks +that you mean him to stop, and then you whip him and he tries to +go on, and you pull again, and he knows not what to think. Always +carry out whatever purpose you begin with your horse if you can. +If sometimes you make a mistake, and cannot absolutely correct it +because of those behind you, guide your horse to his proper +place, and the next time that you come to that part of the ring, +make him go right! Forward, forward! Ladies, not one of you is in +the right place! Keep up! Keep up! Miss Lady, you must go forward +regularly! Now prepare to trot! No, no! Walk! When I say, +'Prepare to trot,' it is not for you to begin, but to think of +what you must do to begin, and you must not let your horses go +until I give the second order, and then not too fast at first. +Now, prepare to trot! Trot! Not quite so fast, Miss Lady; gently! +Keep up, keep up, Miss Beauty! Miss Esmeralda, you are sitting +too far to the left, your left shoulder is too far back! on't +hold your hands so high, Miss Versatilia! Rise straight, Miss +Esmeralda! Now, remember, ladies, what I say is for all. Prepare +to whoa! Whoa!" + +The leader, by an almost imperceptible series of movements, first +sitting down in her saddle, then slightly relaxing her hold of +the reins, and turning both hands very slightly inward, brings +her horse to a walk and continues on her way. The others, with +more or less awkwardness, come to a full stop, and your teacher +laughs. + +"When I say that," he explains, "I mean to cease trotting, not to +stop. Go forward, and remember how you have been taught to go +forward, Miss Esmeralda. It is not enough to frown at your horse. +Now, prepare to trot! Trot!" And then he repeats again and again +that series of injunctions which already seems so threadbare to +you, Esmeralda, but which you do not follow, not because you do +not try, but because you have not full control of your muscles, +and then comes once more the order, "Prepare to whoa. Whoa!" and +a volley of sharp reminders about the solemn duty of keeping a +horse moving while turning corners, and once more the column +proceeds as regularly as possible. + +"I observe," says your teacher, riding close to you, "that you +seem timid, Miss Esmeralda. Do you feel frightened." + +"No," you assure him. + +"Then it is because you are nervous that you are so rigid. Try +not to be stiff. Give yourself a little more flexibility in the +fingers, the wrists, the elbows, everywhere! You are not tired? +No? Be easy then, be easy!" And you remember that you have been +likened unto a poker, and sadly think that, perhaps the +comparison was just. + +"The other master shall ride with you for a few rounds," he +continues; "that will give you confidence, and you will not be +nervous." You indignantly disclaim the possession of nerves, he +smiles indulgently, and the other teacher rides up beside you, +and advises you steadily and quietly during the next succession +of trotting and walking, and, conscious of not exerting yourself +quite so much and of being easier, you begin to think that +perhaps you have a nerve or two somewhere, and you determine to +conquer them. + +"You are sitting too far to the right now," says your new guide, +the most quiet of North Britons. "There should be about half an +inch of the saddle visible to you beyond the edge of your habit, +if it fit quite smooth, but you would better not look down to se +it. It would do no harm for once, perhaps, but it would look +queer, and might come to be a habit. Try to judge of your +position by the feeling of your shoulders and by thinking whether +you are observing every rule; but, once in a great while, when you +are walking, take your reins in your left hand, pass your right +hand lightly along the edge of your saddle, ad satisfy yourself +that you are quite correct in position. If you be quite sure that +you can take a downward glance, without moving your head, try it +occasionally, but very rarely. Use this, in fact, as you would +use a measure to verify a drawing after employing every other +test, and if any teacher notice you and reprove you for doing it, +do not allow yourself to use it again for two or three lessons, +for, unless you can be quiet about it, it is better not to use it +at all." + +"Ladies, ladies," cries a new voice, at the sound of which the +leader is seen to sit even better than before, "this is not a +church, that you should go to sleep while you are taught truth! +Attend to your instructor! Keep up when he tells you. Make your +movements with energy. You tire him; you tire me; you tire the +good horses! how then, rouse yourselves! Prepare to trot! Trot!" +And away go the horses, for it is not every hour that they hear +the strong voice which means that instant obedience must be +rendered. "Keep up! keep up!" cries your teacher. "Come in!" says +your own guide, and then pauses himself, to urge one of the +beginners behind you, and for a minute or two the orders follow +one another thick and fast, the three men working together, each +seeming to have eyes for each pupil, and to divine the intentions +of his coadjutors, and then comes the order, "Prepare to whoa! +Whoa! and the master sits down on the mounting-stand, and frees +his mind on the subject of corners, a topic which you begin to +think is inexhaustible. + +"Please show these ladies how to go into a corner," he concludes, +and your teacher does so, 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 line. The whole class gazes enviously, to be brought to +the proper frame of mind by a sharp expostulatory fire of: "Keep +your distance! Forward!" with about four times as many warnings +addressed to the society young lady as to all the others; and +then suddenly, unexpectedly, the clock strikes and the lesson is +over. + +The society young lady dresses herself with much precision and +deliberation, and announces that she will never, no, never! never +so long as she lives, come again; and in spite of Nell's attempts +to quiet her, she repeats the statement in the reception room, in +the master's hearing, aiming it straight at his quiet countenance. + +"No?" he says, not so much disturbed as she could desire. "You +should not despair, you will learn in time." + +"I don't despair," she answers; "but I know something, and I will +not be treated as if I knew nothing." + +"An, you know something," he repeats, in an interested way. "But +what you do not know, my young lady, is how little that something +is! This is a school; you came here to be taught. I will not +cheat you by not teaching you." + +"And it is no way to teach! Three men ordering a class at once!" + +"Ah, it is 'no way to teach'! Now, it is I who am taking a lesson +from you. I am greatly obliged, but I must keep to my own old +way. It may be wrong--for you, my young lady--but it has made +soldiers to ride, and little girls, and other young ladies, and I +am content. And these others? Are they not coming any more?" + +And every one of those cowardly girls huddles away behind you, +Esmeralda, and leaves you to stammer, "Y-yes, sir, but you do +s-scold a little hard." + +"That," says the master, "is my bog voice to make the horses +mind, and to make sure that you hear it. And I told you the other +day that I spoke for your good, not for my own. If I should say +every time I want trotting, 'My dear and much respected beautiful +young ladies, please to trot,' how much would you learn in a +morning?" + +"We are ladies," says the society young lady, "and we should be +treated as ladies." + +"And you--or these others, since you retire--are my pupils, +and shall be treated as my pupils," he says with a courtly bow +and a "Good morning," and you go away trying to persuade the +society young lady to reconsider. + +"Not that I care much whether she does or not," Nell says +confidentially to you. "She's too overbearing for me," and just +at that minute the voice of the society young lady is heard to +call the master "overbearing," and you and Nell exchange +delighted, mischievous smiles. + +Now for that stiffness of yours, Esmeralda, there is a remedy, as +there is for everything but death, and you should use it +immediately, before the rigidity becomes habitual. Continue your +other exercises, but devote only about a third as much time to +them, and use the other two thirds for Delsarte movements. + +First: Let your hands swing loosely from the wrist, and swing +them lifelessly to and fro. Execute the movement first with the +right hand then with the left, then with both. + +Second: Let the fingers hang from the knuckles, and shake them in +the same way and in the same order. + +Third: Let the forearm hang from the elbow, and proceed in like +manner. + +Fourth: Let the whole arm hang from the shoulder, and swing the +arms by twisting the torso. + +Execute the finger and hand movements with the arms hanging at +the side, extended sidewise, stretched above the head, thrust +straight forward, with the arms bent at right angles to them and +with the arms flung backward as far as possible. Execute the +forearm movements with the arms falling at the side, and also +with the elbow as high as the shoulder. + +After you have performed these exercises for a few days, you will +begin to find it possible to make yourself limp and lifeless when +necessary, and the knowledge will be almost as valuable as the +ability to hold yourself firm and steady. You will find the +exercises in Mrs. Thompson's "Society Gymnastics," but these are +all that you will need for at least one week, especially if you +have to devote many hours to the task of persuading the society +young lady not to leave your class unto you desolate. + + + + + +IX. + + "Left wheel into line!" and they + wheel and obey. + _Tennyson_. + + +When you arrive at the school for your second class lesson, +Esmeralda, 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 tornado. From the shelter of screens and from +retired nooks, come sounds indicative of garments doffed and +donned with abnormal celerity and severity, but never a word of +joking, and never a cry for deft-fingered Kitty's assistance, and +then, little by little, even these noises die away, and the +palace of the Sleeping Beauty could not be more quiet. No girl +stirs from her lurking-place, until our yourself issue from your +pet corner, and then Nell, a warning finger on her lip, +noiselessly emerges from hers, and you go into the reception room +together, and she explains to you that, despite her announcement +that she would never come again, the society young lady has +appeared, and has announced her intention to defend what she +grandly terms her position as a lady. + +"And the master will think us, her associates, as unruly as she +is!" Nell almost sobs. "If I were he, I would send the whole +class home, there!" But the other girls now enter, each +magnificently polite to the others, and the file of nine begins +its journey along the wall, attended as before, the society young +lady taking great pains about distance, and really doing very +well, but the beauty sitting with calm negligence which soon +brings a volley of remonstrance from both teachers, who address +her much after the fashion of Sydney Smith's saying, "You are on +the high road to ruin the moment you think yourself rich enough +to be careless." + +"You must not keep your whip in contact with your horse's +shoulder all the time," lectured one of the teachers, "if you do, +you have no means of urging him to go forward a little faster. +Keep it pressed against the saddle, not slanting outward or +backward. When you use it, do it without relaxing your hold upon +the reins, for if, by any mischance, your horse should start +quickly, you will need it. Forward, ladies, forward! don't stop +in the corners! Use your whips a very little, just as you begin +to turn! Miss Esmeralda, keep to the wall! No, no! Don't keep to +the wall by having your left rein shorter than your right! They +should be precisely even." + +"As you approach the corner," says the other teacher quietly, +speaking to you alone, "carry your right hand a little nearer to +your left without bending your wrist, so that your rein will just +touch your horse's neck on the right side. That will keep his +head straight." + +"But he seems determined to go to the right," you object. + +"That is because your right rein is too short now. While we are +going down the long side of the school, make the reins precisely +even. Now, lay the right rein on his neck, use your whip, and +touch him with your heel to make him go on; bend your right wrist +to turn him, use your whip once more, and go on again!" + +"Forward, Miss Esmeralda, forward!" cries the other teacher. + +"That is because Miss Lady did not go into the corner, and so is +too far in advance," your teacher explains. "You must, in class, +keep your distance as carefully when the rifer immediately before +you is wrong as when she is right. It is the necessity of doing +that, of having to be ready for emergencies, to think of others +as much as of your horse and of yourself, that give class +teaching much of its value." + +"Forward, ladies, forward," cries the other teacher. "Remember +that you are not to go to sleep! Now prepare to trot, and don't +go too fast at first. Remember always to change from one gait to +another gently, for your own sake, that you may not be thrown out +of position; for your horse's, that he may not be startled, and +made unruly and ungraceful. He has nerves as well as you. Now, +prepare to trot! Trot! Shorten your reins, Miss Beauty! Shorten +them!" and during the next minute or two, while the class trots +about a third of a mile, the poor beauty hears every command in +the manual addressed to her, and smilingly tries, but tries in +vain to obey them; but in an unhappy moment the teacher's glance +falls on the society young lady and he bids her keep her right +shoulder back. "You told me that before," she says, rather more +crisply than is prescribed by any of he manuals of etiquette +which constitute her sole library. + +"Then why don't you do it?" is his answer. "Keep your left +shoulder forward," he says a moment later, whereupon the society +young lady turns to the right, and plants herself in the centre +of the ring with as much dignity as is possible, considering that +her horse, not having been properly stopped, and feeling the +nervous movements of her hands, moves now one leg and now +another, now draws his head down pulling her forward on the +pommel, and generally disturbs the beautiful repose of manner +upon which she prides herself. + +"You are tired? No? Frightened? Your stirrup is too short? You +are not comfortable?" demands the teacher, riding up beside her. +"Is there anything which you would like to have me do?" + +"I don't like to be told to do two things at once," she responds +in a tone which should be felt by the thermometer at the other +end of the ring. + +"But you must do two things at once, and many more than two, on +horseback," he says; "when you are rested, take your place in the +line." + +"I think I will dismount," she says. + +"Very well," and before she has time to change her mind, a bell +is rung, a groom guides her horse to the mounting-stand, the +master himself takes her out of the saddle, courteously bids her +be seated in the reception room and watch the others, and she +finds her little demonstration completely and effectually +crushed, and, what is worse, apparently without intention. Nobody +appears to be aware that she has intended a rebellion, although +"whole Fourth of Julys seem to bile in her veins." + +"Now," the teacher goes on, "we will turn to the right, singly. +Turn! Keep up, ladies! Keep up! Ride straight! To the right +again! Turn!" and back on the track, on the other side of the +school, the leader in the rear, the beginners in advance, you +continue until two more turns to the right replace you. + +"That was all wrong," the teacher says, cheerfully. "You did not +ride straight, and you did not ride together. Your horses' heads +should be in line with one another, and then when you arrive at +the track and turn to the right again, your distance will be +correct. Now we will have a little trot, and while you are +resting afterward, you shall try the turn again." + +The society young lady, watching the scene in sulkiness, notes +various faults in each rider and feels that the truly promising +pupil of the class is sitting in her chair at that moment; but +she says nothing of the kind, contenting herself by asking the +master, with well-adjusted carelessness, if it would not be +better for the teacher to speak softly. + +"It gives a positive shock to the nerves to be so vehemently +addressed," she says, with the air of a Hammond advising an +ignorant nurse. + +"That is what he has the intention to do," replies the other. "It +is necessary to arouse the rider's will and not let her sleep, +but if it were not, the teacher of riding, or anybody who has to +give orders, orders, orders all day long, must speak from an +expanded chest, with his lungs full of air, or at night he will +be dumb. The young man behind the counter who has to entreat, +persuade, to beg, to be gentle, he may make his voice soft, but +to speak with energy in a low tone is to strain the vocal cords +and to injure the lungs permanently. The opera singer finds to +sing piano, pianissimo more wearisome than to make herself heard +above a Wagner orchestra. The orator, with everybody still and +listening with countenance intent, dares not speak softly, except +now and then for contrast. In the army we have three months' +rest, and then we go to the surgeon, and he examines our throats +and lungs, and sees whether or not they need any treatment. If +you go to the camp of the military this summer, you will find the +young officers whom you know in the ball-room so soft and so +gentle, not whispering to their men, but shouting, and the best +officer will have the loudest shout." + +The society young lady remembers the stories which she has heard +her father and uncles tell of that "officer's sore throat," which +in 1861 and 1862, caused so many ludicrous incidents among the +volunteer soldiery, the energetic rill master of one day being +transformed into a voiceless pantomimist by the next, but, like +Juliet when she spoke, she says nothing, and now the teacher once +more cries, "Turn!" and then, suddenly, "Prepare to stop! Stop! +Now look at your line! Now two of you have your horses' heads +even! And how many of you were riding straight?" + +A dead silence gives a precisely correct answer, and again he +cries, "Forward!" A repetition of the movement is demanded, and +is received with cries of "This is not good, ladies! This is not +good! We will try again by and by. Now, prepare to change hands +in file." + +The leader, turning at one corner of the school, makes a line +almost like a reversed "s" to the corner diagonally opposite, and +comes back to the track on the left hand, the others straggling +after with about as much precision and grace as Jill followed +Jack down the hill; but, before they are fairly aware how very +ill they have performed the manoeuvre, they perceive that their +teacher not only aimed at having them learn how to turn to the +left at each corner, but also at giving himself an opportunity to +make remarks about their feet and the position thereof, and at +the end of five minutes each girl feels as if she were a +centipede, and you, Esmeralda, 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 saddle. "And don't let your +left foot swing," says the teacher in closing his exhortations; +"hold it perfectly steady! Now change hands in file, and come +back to the track on the right again, and we will have a little +trot." + +"And before you begin," lectures the master, "I will tell you +something. The faster you go, after once you know how to stay in +the saddle, the better for you, the better for your horse. You +see the great steamer crossing the ocean when under full headway, +and she can turn how this way and now that, with the least little +touch of the rudder, but when she is creeping, creeping through +the narrow channel, she must have a strong, sure hand at the +helm, and when she is coming up to her wharf, easy, easy, she +must swing in a wide circle. That is why my word to you is always +'Forward! Forward!' and again, 'Forward!' There is a scientific +reason underlying this, if you care to know it. When you go fast, +neither you nor the horse has time to feel the pressure of the +atmosphere from above, and that is why it seems as if you were +flying, and he is happy and exhilarated as well as you. You will +see the tame horse in the paddock gallop about for his pleasure, +and the wild horse on the prairie will start and run for miles in +mere sportiveness. So, if you want to have pleasure on horseback, +'Forward!'" + +While the little trot is going on, 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 can," +to which he replies that the horse will desire to go quite as +long as she can or will, whereupon she withdraws into the cave of +sulkiness again, but brightens perceptibly as you dismount and +join her. + +"You do look so funny, Esmeralda," she begins. "Your feet do seem +positively immense, as the teacher said." + +"Pardon me; I said not that," gently interposes the teacher; +"only that they looked too big, bigger than they are, when she +turns them outward." + +"And you do sit very much on one side," she continues to +Versatilia: "and your crimps are quite flat, my dear," to the +beauty. + +"Never mind; they aren't fastened on with a safety pin," retorts +the beauty, plucking up spirit, unexpectedly. + +"O, no! of course not," the wise fairy interposes, with a little +laugh. "You young ladies do not do such things, of course. But, +do you know, I heard of a lady who wore a switch into a riding- +school ring one day, and it came off, and the riding master had +to keep it in his pocket until the end of the session." + +Little does the wise fairy know of the society young lady's ways! +What she has determined to say, she declines to retain unsaid, +and so she cries: "And you do thrust your head forward so +awkwardly, Nell!" + +"'We are ladies,'" quotes Nell, "and we can't answer you," and +the society young lady finds herself alone with the wise fairy, +who is suddenly very busy with her books, and after a moment, she +renews her announcement that she is not coming any more. "Well, I +wouldn't," the wise fairy says, looking thoughtfully at her. "You +make the others unhappy, and that is not desirable, and you will +not be taught. I gave you fair warning that the master would be +severe, but those who come here to learn enjoy their lessons. +Once in a great while there are ladies who do not wish to be +taught, but they find it out very soon, as you have." + +"There is always a good reason for everything," the master says +gravely. "Now, I have seen many great men who could not learn to +ride. There was Gambetta. Nothing would make a fine rider out of +that man! Why? Because for one moment that his mind was on his +horse, a hundred it was on something else. And Jules Verne! He +could not learn! And Emile Giardin! They had so many things to +think about! Now, perhaps it is so with this young lady. Society +demands so much, one must do so many things, that she cannot bend +her mind to this one little art. It is unfortunate, but then she +is not the first!" And with a little salute he turns away, and +the society young lady, much crosser than she was before he +invented this apology for her, comes into the dressing room and-- +bids you farewell? Not at all! Says that she is sorry, and that +she knows that she can learn, and is going to try. "And I suppose +now that nothing will make her go!" Nell says, lugubriously, as +you saunter homeward. + +You are still conscious of stiffness, Esmeralda? That is not a +matter for surprise or for anxiety. All your life you have been +working for strength, for even your dancing-school teacher was +not one of those scientific ballet-masters who, like Carlo +Blasis, would have taught you that the strength of a muscle often +deprives it of flexibility and softness. You desire that your +muscles should be rigid or relaxed at will. Go and stand in front +of your mirror, and let your head drop forward toward either +shoulder, causing your whole torso to become limp. Now hold the +head erect, and try to reproduce the feeling. The effect is +awkward, and not to be practised in public, but the exercise +enables you to perceive for yourself when you are stiff about the +shoulders and waist. Now drop your head backward, and swing the +body, not trying to control the head, and persist until you can +thoroughly relax the muscles of the neck, a work which you need +not expect to accomplish until after you have made many efforts. +Now execute all your movements for strengthening the muscles, +very slowly and lightly, using as little force as possible. After +you can do this fairly well, begin by executing them quickly and +forcibly, then gradually retard them, and make them more gently, +until you glide at last into perfect repose. This will take time, +but the good results will appear not only in your riding, but +also in your walking and in your dancing. You and Nell might +practise these Delsarte exercises together, for no especial dress +is needed for them, and companionship will remove the danger of +the dulness which, it must be admitted, sometimes besets the +amateur, unsustained by the artist's patient energy. Before you +take another class lesson, you may have an exercise ride, in +which to practise what you have learned. "Tried to learn!" do you +say? Well, really, Esmeralda, one begins to have hopes of you! + + + + + +X. + + --Ye couldn't have made him a rider, + And then ye know, boys will be boys, and hosses, + --well, hosses is hosses! + _Harte_. + + +When you and Nell go to take your exercise ride, Esmeralda, you +must assume the air of having ridden before you were able to +walk, and of being so replete with equestrian knowledge that +the "acquisition of another detail would cause immediate +dissolution," as the Normal college girl said when asked if she +knew how to teach. You must insist on having a certain horse, no +matter ho much inconvenience it may create, and, if possible, you +should order him twenty-four hours in advance, stipulating that +nobody shall mount him in the interval, and, while waiting for +him to be brought from the stable, you should proclaim that he is +a wonderfully spirited, not to say vicious, creature, but that +you are not in the smallest degree afraid of him. You should pick +up your reins with easy grace, and having twisted them into a +hopeless snarl, should explain to any spectator who may presume +to smile that one "very soon forgets the little things, you know, +but they will come back in a little while." + +Having started, you must choose between steadily trotting or +rapidly cantering, absolutely regardless of the rights or wishes +of any one else, or else you must hold your horse to a spiritless +crawl, carefully keeping him in such a position as to prevent +anybody else from outspeeding you. If you were a man, you would +feel it incumbent on you to entreat your master to permit you to +change horses with him, and would give him certain valuable +information, derived from quarters vaguely specified as "a person +who knows," or "a man who rides a great deal." meaning somebody +who is in the saddle twenty times a year, and duly pays his +livery stable bill for the privilege, and you would confide in +some other exercise rider, if possible, in the hearing of seven +or eight pupils, that your master was not much of a rider after +all, that the "natural rider is best," and you would insinuate +that to observe perfection it was only necessary to look at you. +If, in addition to this, you could intimate to any worried or +impatient pupils that they had not been properly taught, you +would make yourself generally beloved, and these are the ways of +the casual exercise rider, male and female. But you, Esmeralda, +are slightly unfitted for the perfect assumption of this part by +knowing how certain things ought to be done, although you cannot +do them, and alas! you are not yet adapted to the humbler but +prettier character of the real exercise rider, who is thoroughly +taught, and whose every movement is a pleasure to behold. + +There are many such women and a few men who prefer the ring to +the road for various reasons, and from them you may learn much, +both by observation and from the hints which many of them will +give you if they find that you are anxious to learn, and that you +are really nothing more pretentious than a solitary student. So +into the saddle you go, and you and Nell begin to walk about in +company. "In company," indeed, for about half a round, and then +you begin to fall behind. Touching your Abdallah lightly with +whip and heel starts him into a trot and coming up beside Nell +you start off her Arab, and both horses are rather astonished to +be checked. What do these girls want, they think, and when you +fall behind again, it takes too strokes of the whip to urge +Abdallah forward, Arab is unmoved by your passing him, and you +find the breadth of the ring dividing you and Nell. You pause, +she turns to the right, crosses the space between you, turns +again and is by your side, and now both of you begin to see what +you must do. Nell, who is riding on the inside, that is to say on +the included square, must check her horse very slightly after +turning each corner, and you must hasten yours a little before +turning, and a little after, so as to give her sufficient space +to turn, and, at the same time, to keep up with her. You, being +on her left, must be very careful every moment to have a firm +hold of your left rein, so as to keep away from her feet, and she +must keep especial watch of her right rein in order to guard +herself. + +After each of you has learned her part pretty well, you should +exchange places and try again, and then have a round or two of +trotting, keeping your horses' heads in line. You will find both +of them very tractable to this discipline, because accustomed to +having your master's horse keep pace with them, and because they +often go in pairs at the music rides, and you must not expect +that an ordinary livery stable horse would be as easily managed. +It is rather fashionable to sneer at the riding-school horse as +too mild for the use of a good rider, and very likely, while +you and Nell are patiently trying your little experiment, you +will hear a youth with very evident straps on his trousers, +superciliously requesting to have "something spirited" brought +in from the stable for him. + +"Not one of your school horses, taught to tramp a treadmill +round, but a regular flyer," he explains. + +"Is he a very good rider?" you ask your master. "Last time he was +hear I had to take him off Abdallah," he says sadly, and then he +goes to the mounting-stand to deny "the regular flyer," and to +tender instead, "an animal that we don't give to everybody, +William." Enter "William," otherwise Billy Buttons, whom the +gentleman covetous of a flyer soon finds to be enough for him to +manage, because William, although accustomed to riders awkward +through weakness, is not used to the manners of what is called +the "three-legged trotter"; that is to say, the man whose unbent +arms and tightened reins make a straight line from his shoulders +to his horse's mouth, while his whole weight is thrown upon the +reins by a backward inclination of his body. + +If you would like to know how Billy feels about it, Esmeralda, +bend your chin toward your throat, and imagine a bar of iron +placed across your tongue and pulling your head upward. It would +hurt you, but you could raise your head and still go forward, +making wild gestures with your hands, kicking, perhaps, in a +ladylike manner, as Gail Hamilton kicked Halicarnassus, but by no +means stopping. Now suppose that bar of iron drawn backward by +reins passing one on each side of your shoulders and held firmly +between your scapulae; you could not go forward without almost +breaking your neck, could you? No more could Billy, if his rider +would let out his reins, bend his elbows, and hold his hands low, +almost touching his saddle, but, as it is, he goes on, and if he +should rear by and by, and if his rider should slide off, be not +alarmed. The three-legged trotter is not the kind of horseman to +cling to his reins, and he will not be dragged, and Billy is too +good-tempered not to stop the moment he has rid himself of his +tormentor. But while he is still on Billy's back, and flattering +himself that he is doing wonders in subjugating the "horse that +we don't give to everybody," do you and Nell go to the centre of +the ring and see if you can stop properly. Pretty well done, but +wait a moment before trying it again, for it is not pleasant to a +horse. Sit still a few minutes, and then try and see if you can +back your horse a step or two. + +In order to do this, it is not enough to sit up straight and to +say "back," or even to say "bake," which, according to certain +"natural riders," is the secret of having the movement executed +properly. You must draw yourself up and lean backward, touching +your horse both with your foot and with your whip, in order that +he may stand squarely, and you must raise your wrists a little, +and the same time turning them inward. The horse will take a +step, you must instantly sit up straight, lower your hands, and +then repeat the movement until he has backed far enough. Four +steps will be quite as many as you should try when working thus +by yourself, because you do not wish to form any bad habits, and +your master will probably find much to criticise in your way of +executing the movement. The most that you can do for yourself is +to be sure that Abdallah makes but one step for each of your +demands. If he make two, lower your hands, and make him go +forward, for a horse that backs unbidden is always troublesome +and may sometimes be dangerous. + +"Just watch that man on Billy Buttons," says your master, coming +up to you, "and make up your minds never to do anything that you +see him do. And look at those two ladies who are mounting now, +and see how well it is possible to ride without being taught in +school, provided one rides enough. They cannot trot a rod, but +they have often been in the saddle half a day at a time in +Spanish America, whence they come, and they can 'lope,' as they +call it, for hours without drawing rein. They sit almost, but not +quite straight, and they have strength enough in their hands to +control any of our horses, although they complain that these +English bits are poor things compared to the Spanish bit. You +see, they can stay on, although they cannot ride scientifically." + +"And isn't that best?" asked Nell. + +"It is better," corrects the master. "The very best is to stay on +because one rides scientifically, and that is what I hope that +you two will do by and by. There's that girl who always brings in +bags of groceries for her horse! Apples this time!" + +"Isn't it a good thing to give a horse a tidbit of some kind +after a ride?" asked Nell. + +"'Good,' if it be your own horse, but not good in a riding- +school. It tends to make the horses impatient for the end of a +ride, and sometimes makes them jealous of one another at the +mounting-stand, and keeps them there so long as to inconvenience +others who wish to dismount. Besides, careless pupils, like that +girl, have a way of tossing a paper bag into the ring after the +horse has emptied it, and although we always pick it up as soon +as possible, it may cause another horse to shy. A dropped +handkerchief is also dangerous, for a horse is a suspicious +creature and fears anything novel as a woman dreads a mouse." + +What is the trouble on the mounting-stand? Nothing, except that a +tearful little girl wants "her dear Daisy; she never rides +anything else, and she hates Clifton, and does not like Rex and +Jewel canters, and she wants Da-a-isy!" + +"But is it not better for you to change horses now and then, and +Daisy is not fit to be in the ring to-day," says your master. +"Jewel is very easy and good-tempered. Will you have him?" + +"No, I'll have Abdallah." + +"A lady is riding him." + +"Well, I want him." + +It is against the rules for your master to suggest such a thing +to you, Esmeralda, but suppose you go up to the mounting-stand +and offer to take Jewel yourself and let her have Abdallah. You +do it; your master puts you on Jewel, and sends the wilful little +girl away on Abdallah, and then comes up to you and Nell, thanks +you, and says, "It was very good of you, but she must learn some +day to ride everything, and I shall tell her so, and next time!" + +He looks capable of giving her Hector, Irish Hector, who is +wilful as the wind, but in reward for your goodness he bestows a +little warning about your whips upon Nell, who has a fancy for +carrying hers slantwise across her body, so that both ends show +from the back, and the whole whip is quite useless as far as the +horse is concerned, although picturesque enough with its loop of +bright ribbon. + +"It makes one think of a circus picture," he says; "and, Miss +Esmeralda, don't hold your whip with the lash pointing outward, +to tickle Miss Nell's horse, and to make you look like an +American Mr. Briggs 'going to take a run with the Myopias, don't +you know.' Isn't this a pretty horse?" + +"Well, I don't know," you say frankly; "I'm no judge. I don't +know anything about a horse." + +For once your master loses his self-possession, and stares +unreservedly. "Child," he says, "I never, never before saw +anybody in this ring who didn't know all about a horse." + +"Well, but I really don't, you know." + +"No, but nobody ever says so. Now just hear this new pupil +instruct me." + +The new pupil, who thinks a riding habit should be worn over two +or three skirts, and is consequently sitting with the aerial +elegance of a feather bed, is riding with her snaffle rein, the +curb tied on her horse's neck, and is clasping it by the centre, +allowing the rest to hang loose, so that Clifton, supposing that +she means to give him liberty to browse, is looking for grass +among the tan. Not finding it, he snorts occasionally, whereupon +she calls him "poor thing," and tells him that "it is a warm day, +and that he should rest, so he should!" + +"Your reins are too long," says your master. + +"Do you mean that they are too long, or that I am holding them so +as to make them too long," she inquires, in a precise manner. + +"They are right enough. Our saddlers know their business. But you +are holding them so that you might as well have none. Shorten +them, and make him bring his head up in its proper place." + +"But I think it's cruel to treat him so, when he's tired, poor +thing! I always hold my reins in the middle when I'm driving, and +my horse goes straight enough. This one seems dizzy. He goes +round and round." + +"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 horse?" + +"It would be a neat addition to a side saddle," says your master, +"but shorten your reins. Take one in each hand. Leave about eight +inches of rein between your hands. There! See. Now Guide your +horse." + +He leaves her, in order that he may enjoy the idea of the side +saddle with shafts, and she promptly resumes her old attitude +which she feels is elegant, and when Clifton wanders up beside +Abdallah, she sweetly asks Nell, "Is this your first lesson? Do +you think this horse is good? The master wants me to pull on my +reins, but I think it is inhuman, and I won't, and"--but +Clifton strays out of hearing, and your arouse yourselves to +remember that you are having more fun than work. + +There is plenty of room in the ring, now, so you change hands, +and circle to the left, first walking and then trotting, slowly +at first, and then rapidly, finding to your pleasant surprise, +that, just as you begin to think that you can go no further, you +are suddenly endowed with new strength and can make two more +rounds. "A good half mile," your master says, approvingly, as you +fall into a walk and pass him, and then you do a volte or two, +and one little round at a canter, and then walk five minutes, and +dismount to find the rider of the alleged William assuring John, +the head groom, that redoubtable animal needs "taking down." + +"Shall ride him with spurs next time," he says. "I can manage +him, but he would be too much for most men," and away he goes and +a flute-voiced little boy of eight mounts William, retransformed +into Billy Buttons, and guides him like a lamb, and you escape up +stairs to laugh. But you have no time for this before the +merciful young woman enters to say that she is going to another +school, where she can do as she pleases and have better horses, +too, and the more you and Nell assure her that there is no school +in which she can learn without obedience, and that her horse was +too good, if anything, the more determined she becomes, and soon +you wisely desist. + +As she departs, "Oh, dear," you say, "I thought there was nothing +but fun at riding-school, and just see all these queer folks." + +"My dear," says philosophic Nell, "they ar part of the fun. And +we are fun to the old riders; and we are all fun to our master." + +Here you find yourselves enjoying a bit of fun from which your +master is shut out, for three or four girls come up from the ring +together, and, not seeing you, hidden behind your screens, two, +in whom you and Nell have already recognized saleswomen from whom +you have more than once bought laces, begin to talk to overawe +the others. + +"My deah," says one, "now I think of it, I weally don't like the +setting of these diamonds that you had given you last night. It's +too heavy, don't you think?" + +The other replies in a tone which would cheat a man, but in which +you instantly detect an accent of surprise and a determination to +play up to her partner as well as possible, that she "liked it +very well." + +"I should have them reset," says the former speaker. "Like mine, +you know; light and airy. Deah me, I usedn't to care for +diamonds, and now I'm puffectly infatooated with them, don't you +know! My!" she screams, catching sight of a church clock, and, +relapsing into her everyday speech: "Half-past four! And I am due +at"--[An awkward pause.] "I promised to return at four!" + +There is no more talk about diamonds, but a hurried scramble to +dress, an a precipitate departure, after which one of the other +ladies is heard to say very distinctly: "I remember that girl as +a pupil when I was teaching in a public school, and I know all +about her. Salary, four dollars a week. Diamonds!" + +"She registered at the desk as Mrs. Something," rejoins the +other. "She only came in for one ride, and so they gave her a +horse without looking up her reference, but one of the masters +knew her real name. Poor little goosey! She has simply spoiled +her chance of ever becoming a regular pupil, no matter how much +she may desire it. No riding master will give lessons to a person +who behaves so. He would lose more than he gained by it, no +matter how long she took lessons. And they know everybody in a +riding-school, although they won't gossip. I'd as soon try to +cheat a Pinkerton agency." + +"I know one thing," Nell says, as you walk homeward: "I'm going +to take an exercise ride between every two lessons, and I'm going +to ride a new horse every time, if I can get him, and I'm going +to do what I'm told, and I shall not stop trotting at the next +lesson, even if I feel as if I should drop out of the saddle. +I've learned so much from an exercise ride." + + + + + +XI. + + Ride as though you were flying. + _Mrs. Norton_. + + +"Cross," Esmeralda? Why? Because having had seven lessons of +various sorts, and two rides, you do not feel yourself to be a +brilliant horsewoman? Because you cannot trot more than half a +mile, and because you cannot flatter yourself that it would be +prudent for you to imitate your favorite English heroines, and to +order your horse brought around to the hall door for a solitary +morning canter? And you really think that you do well to be +angry, and that, had your teacher been as discreet and as +entirely admirable as you feel yourself to be, you would be more +skilful and better informed? + +Very well, continue to think so, but pray do not flatter yourself +that your mental attitude has the very smallest fragment of an +original line, curve or angle. Thus, and not otherwise, do all +youthful equestrians feel, excepting those doubly-dyed in +conceit, who fancy that they have mastered a whole art in less +than twelve hours. You certainly are not a good rider, 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 road. You have not yet been taught every one of these +things, certainly, for she who has been really taught a physical +or mental feat, can execute it at will, but you have been partly +instructed, and it is yours to see that the instruction is not +wasted, by not being either repeated, or faithfully reduced to +practice. Remember clever Mrs. Wesley's answer to the unwise +person who said in reproof, "You have told that thing to that +child thirty times." "Had I told it but twenty-nine," replied the +indomitable Susanna, "they had been wasted." What you need now is +practice, preferably in the ring with a teacher, but if you +cannot afford that, without a teacher, and road rides whenever +you can have them on a safe horse, taken from a school stable, if +possible, with companions like yourself, intent upon study and +enjoyment, not upon displaying their habits, or, if they be men, +the airs of their horses, and the correctness of their equipment, +or upon racing. + +As for the solitary canter, when the kindly Fates shall endow +that respectable American sovereign, your father, with a park +somewhat bigger than the seventy-five square feet of ground +inclosed by an iron railing before his present palace, it will be +time enough to think about that; but you can no more venture upon +a public road alone than an English lady could, and indeed, your +risk in doing so would be even greater than hers. Why? Because in +rural England all men and boys, even the poorest and the +humblest, seem to know instinctively how a horse should be +equipped. True, a Wordsworth or a Coleridge did hesitate for +hours over the problem of adjusting a horse collar, but Johnny +Ragamuffin, from the slums, or Jerry Hickathrift, of some shire +with the most uncouth of dialects, can adjust a slipping saddle, +or, in a hand's turn, can remove a stone which is torturing a +hoof. + +Not so your American wayfarer, city bred or country grown; it +will be wonderful if he can lengthen a stirrup leather, ad, +before allowing such an one to tighten a girth for you, you would +better alight and take shelter behind a tree, and a good large +tree, because he may drive your horse half frantic by his well- +meant unskilfulness. Besides, Mrs. Grundy very severely frowns on +the woman who rides alone, and there is no appeal from Mrs. +Grundy's wisdom. Sneer at her, deride her, try, if you will, to +undermine her authority, but obey her commands and yield to her +judgment if you would have the respect of men, and, what is of +more consequence, the fair speech of women. And so, Esmeralda, as +you really have no cause for repining, go away to your class +lesson, which has a double interest for you and Nell, because of +the wicked pleasure which you derive from hearing the master +quietly crush the society young lady with unanswerable logic. + +You have seen him with a class of disobedient, well-bred little +girls, and know how persuasive he can be to a child who is really +frightened. You have seen him surrounded by a class of eager +small goys, and beset with a clamorous shout of, "Plea-ease let +us mount from the ground." You have heard his peremptory "No," +and then, as they turned away discomfited, have noted how kindly +was his "I will tell you why, my dear boys. It is because your +legs are too short. Wait until you are tall, then you shall +mount." You know that when Versatilia, having attended a party +the previous evening and arisen at five o'clock to practise +Chopin, and then worked an hour at gymnastics, could not, from +pure weariness, manage her horse, how swift was his bound across +the ring, and how carefully he lifted her from the saddle, and +gave her over to the ministrations of the wise fairy. You know +that any teacher must extract respect from his scholars, and you +detect method in all the little sallies which almost drive the +society young lady to madness, but this morning it is your turn. + +You do, one after the other, all the things against which you +have been warned, and, when corrected, you look so very dismal +and discouraged that the Scotch teacher comes quietly to your +side and rides with you, and, feeling that he will prevent your +horse from doing anything dangerous, you begin to mend your ways, +when suddenly you hear the master proclaim in a voice which, to +your horrified ears, seems audible to the whole universe: "Ah, +Miss Esmeralda! she cannot ride, she cannot do her best, unless +she has a gentleman beside her." In fancy's eye you seem to see +yourself blushing for that criticism during the remainder of your +allotted days, and you almost hope that they will be few. You +know that every other girl in the class will repeat it to other +girls, and even to men, and possibly even to Theodore, and that +you will never be allowed to forget it. Cannot ride or do your +best without a gentleman, indeed! You could do very well without +one gentleman whom you know, you think vengefully, and then you +turn to the kindly Scotch teacher, and, with true feminine +justice, endeavor to punish him for another's misdeeds by telling +him that, if he please, you would prefer to ride alone. As he +reins back, you feel a decided sinking of the heart and again +become conscious that you are oddly incapable of doing anything +properly, and then, suddenly, it flashes upon you that the master +was right in his judgment, and you fly into a small fury of +determination to show him that you can exist "without a +gentleman." Down go your hands, you straighten your shoulders, +adjust yourself to a nicety, think of yourself and of your horse +with all the intensity of which you are capable, and make two or +three rounds without reproof. + +"Now," says the teacher, "we will try a rather longer trot than +usual, and when any lady is tired she may go to the centre of the +ring. Prepare to trot! Trot!" + +The leader's eyes sparkle with delight as she allows her good +horse, after a round or two, to take his own speed, the teacher +continues his usual fire of truthful comments as to shoulders, +hands and reins, and one after another, the girls leave the +track, and only the leader and you remain, she, calm and cool as +an iceberg, you, flushed, and compelled to correct your position +at almost every stride of your horse, sometimes obliged to sit +close for half a round, but with your whole Yankee soul set upon +trotting until your master bids you cease. Can you believe your +ears? + +"Brava, Miss Esmeralda!" shouts the master. "Go in again. That is +the way. Ah, go in again! That is the way the rider is made! +Again! Ah, brava!" + +"Prepare to whoa! Whoa!" says the teacher, and both he and your +banished cavalier congratulate you, and it dawns upon you that +the society young lady is not the only person whom the master +understands, and is able to manage. However, you are grateful, +and even pluck up courage to salute him when next you pass him; +but alas! that does not soften his heart so thoroughly that he +does not warningly ejaculate, "Right foot," and then comes poor +Nell's turn. She, reared in a select private school for young +ladies, and having no idea of proper discipline, ventures to +explain the cause of some one of her misdeeds, instead of +correcting it in silence. She does it courteously, but is met +with, "Ah-h-h! Miss Esmeralda, you know Miss Nell. Is it not with +her on foot as it is on horseback? Does she not argue?" + +You shake your head severely and loyally, but brave Nell speaks +out frankly, "Yes, sir; I do. But I won't again." + +"I would have liked to ride straight at him," she confides to you +afterwards, "but he was right. Still, it is rather astounding to +hear the truth sometimes." + +And now, for the first time around, you are allowed to ride in +pairs, and the word "interval," meaning the space between two +horses moving in parallel lines, is introduced, and you and Nell, +who are together, congratulate yourselves on having in your +exercise ride learned something of the manner in which the +interval may be preserved exactly, for it is a greater trouble to +the others than that "distance" which you have been told a +thousand times to "keep." You have but very little of this +practice, however, before you are again formed in file, and +directed to "Prepare to volte singly!" + +When this is done perfectly, it is a very pretty manoeuvre, and, +the pupils returning to their places at the same movement, the +column continues on its way with its distances perfectly +preserved, but as no two of your class make circles of the same +size, or move at similar rates of speed, your small procession +finds itself in hopeless disorder, and in trying to rearrange +yourselves, each one of you discovers that she has yet something +to learn about turning. However, after a little trot and the +usual closing walk, the lesson ends, and you retire from the +ring, with the exception of Nell, who, having been taught by an +amateur to leap in a more or less unscientific manner, has begged +the master to give her "one little lesson," a proposition to +which he has consented. + +The hurdle is brought out, placed half-way down one of the long +sides of the school, and Nell walks her horse quietly down the +other, turns him again as she comes on the second long side, +shakes her reins lightly, putting him to a canter, and is over-- +"beautifully," as you say to yourself, as you watch her +enviously. + +"You did not fall off," the master comments, coiling the lash of +the long whip with which he has stood beside the hurdle during +Miss Nell's performance, "but you did not guard yourself against +falling when you went up, and had you had some horses, you might +have come down before he did, although that is not so easy for a +lady as it is for a man. When you start for a leap, you must draw +your right foot well back, so as to clasp the pommel with your +knee, and just as the horse stops to spring upward, you must lean +back and lift both hands a little, and then, when he springs, +straighten yourself, feel proud and haughty, if you can, and, as +he comes down, lean back once more and raise your hands again, +because your horse will drop on his fore legs, and you desire him +to lift them, that he may go forward before you do. You should +practise this, counting one, as you lean backward, drawing but +not turning the hands backward and upward; two, as you straighten +yourself wit the hands down, and three, as you repeat the first +movement; and, except in making a water jump, or some other very +long leap, the 'two' will be the shortest beat, as it is in the +waltz. And, although you must use some strength in raising your +hands, you must not raise them too high, and you must not lean +your head forward or draw your elbows back. A jockey may, when +riding in a steeplechase for money, but he will be angry with +himself for having to do it, and a lady must not. I would rather +that you did not leap again to-day, 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 chair. And I would rather that you +did not leap again in your own way, until you have let me see you +do it once or twice more, at least." + +"You did not have to whip my horse to make him leap," Nell says, + +"The whip was not to strike him, but to show him what was ready +for him if he refused," says the master. "One must never permit a +horse to refuse without punishing bum, for otherwise he may +repeat the fault when mounted by a poor rider, and a dangerous +accident may follow. One must never brutalize a horse--indeed, +no one but a brute does--but one must rule him." + +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 gravity, and decidedly +amusing to the wise fairy, who glances at him with a laugh and +betakes herself to her own little nest. + +"My young ladies," he says. "I will show you one little leap, not +high, you know, but a little leap sitting on a side saddle," and, +going out, he takes Nell's horse, and in a minute you see him +sailing through the air, light as a bird, and without any of the +encouraging shouts used by some horsemen. It is only a little +leap, but it impresses your illogical minds as no skilfulness in +the voltes and no _haute ecole_ airs could do, for leaping is the +crowning accomplishment of riding in the eyes of all your male +friends except the cavalryman, and when he returns to the +reception room, you linger in the hope of a little lecture, and +you are not disappointed. + +"My young ladies," he says, "at the point at which you are in the +equestrian art, what you should do is to keep doing what you +know, over and over again, no matter if you do it wrong. Keep +doing and doing, and by and by you will do it right. I have tried +that plan of perfecting each step before undertaking another, but +it is of no use with American ladies. You will not do things at +all, unless you can do them well, you say. That is to say if you +were to go to a ball, and were to say, 'No, I have taken lessons, +I have danced in school, but I am afraid I cannot do so well as +some others. I will not dance here.' That would not be the way to +do. Dance, and again dance, and if you make a little mistake, +dance again! The mistake is of the past; it is not matter for +troubling; dance again, and do not make it again. And so of +riding, ride, and again ride! Try all ways. Take your foot out of +the stirrup sometimes, and slip it back again without stopping +your horse, and when you can do it at the walk, do it at the +trot, and keep rising! And learn not to be afraid to keep +trotting after you are a little tired. Keep trotting! Keep +trotting! Then you will know real pleasure, and you will not hurt +your horses, as you will if you pull them up just as they begin +to enjoy the pace. And then"--looking very hard at nothing at +all, and not at you, Esmeralda, as your guilty soul fancies-- +"and then, gentlemen will not be afraid to ride with you for fear +of spoiling their horses by checking them too often." + +And with this he goes away, and on! Esmeralda, does not the +society young lady make life pleasant for you and Nell in the +dressing-room, until the beauty attracts general attention by +stating that she has had an hour of torment! + +"Perhaps you have not noticed that most of these saddles are +buckskin," she continues; "I did not, until I found myself +slipping about on mine to day as if it were glazed, and lo! It +was pigskin, and that made the difference. I would not have it +changed, because the Texan is always sneering at English pigskin, +and I wanted to learn to ride on it; but, until the last quarter +of the hour, I expected to slip off. I rather think I should +have," she adds, "only just as I was ready to slip off on one +side, something would occur to make me slip to the other. I shall +not be afraid of pigskin again, ad you would better try it, every +one of you. Suppose you should get a horse from a livery stable +some day with one of those slippery saddles!" + +"I am thinking of buying a horse," says the society young lad; +"but the master says that I do not know enough to ride a beast +that has been really trained. Fancy that!" + +"And all the authorities agree with him," says Versatilia, who +has accumulated a small library of books on equestrianism since +she began to take lessons. "Your horse ought not to know much +more than you do--for if he do, you will find him perfectly +unmanageable." + +Here you and Nell flee on the wings of discretion. The daring of +the girl! To tell the society young lady that a horse may know +more than she does! + + + + + +XII. + + Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy. + _Shakespeare_. + + +And now, Esmeralda, having determined to put your master's advice +into practice and to "keep riding," you think that you must have +a habit in order to be ready to take to the road whenever you +have an opportunity, and to be able to accompany Theodore, should +he desire to repeat your music-ride? And you would like to know +just what it will cost, and everything about it? And first, what +color can you have? + +You "can" have any color, Esmeralda, and you "can" have any +material, for that matter. Queen Guinevere wore grass green silk, +and if her skirt were as long as those worn by Matilda of +Flanders, Norman William's wife, centuries after, her women must +have spent several hours daily in mending it, unless she had a +new habit for every ride, or unless the English forest roads were +wider than they are to-day. But all the ladies of Arthur's court +seem to have ridden in their ordinary dress. Enid, for instance, +was arrayed in the faded silk which had been her house-dress and +waking-dress in girlhood, when she performed her little feat of +guiding six armor-laden horses. Queen Elizabeth and Mary Stuart +seem to have liked velvet, either green or black, and to have +adorned it with gold lace, and both probably took their fashions +form France; the young woman in the Scotch ballad was "all in +cramoisie"; Kate Peyton wore scarlet broadcloth, but secretly +longed for purple, having been told by a rival, who had probably +found her too pretty for scarlet, that green or purple was "her +color." + +There are crimson velvet and dark blue velvet and Lincoln green +velvet habits without end in fiction, and in the records of +English royal wardrobes, but, beautiful as velvet is, and +exquisitely becoming as it would be, you would better not indulge +your artistic taste by wearing it. It would cost almost three +times as much as cloth; it would be nearly impossible to make a +well fitting modern skirt of it, and it would be worn into +ugliness by a very few hours of trotting. Be thankful, therefore, +that fashion says that woollen cloth is the most costly material +that may be used. + +In India, during the last two or three seasons, Englishwomen have +worn London-made habits of very light stuffs, mohairs and fine +Bradford woollens, and there is no reason why any American woman +should not do the same. In Hyde Park, for three summers, in those +early morning hours when some of the best riders go, attended by +a groom, to enjoy something more lively than the afternoon +parade, skirts of light tweed and covert coats of the same +material worn over white silk shirts, with linen collars and a +man's tie, have made their wearers look cool and comfortable, and +duck covert jackets, with ordinary woollen skirts have had a +similar effect, but American women have rather hesitated as to +adopting these fashions, lest some one, beholding, should say +that they were not correct. Thus did they once think that they +must wear bonnets with strings in church, no matter what +remonstrance was made by the thermometer, or how surely they were +deafened to psalm and sermon by longing for the cool, comfortable +hats, which certain wise persons had decided were too frivolous +for the sanctuary. + +New York girls have worn white cloth habits at Lenox without +shocking the moral sense of the inhabitants, but Lenox, during +the season, probably contains a smaller percentage of simpletons +than any village in the United States, and some daring Boston +girls have appeared this year in cool and elegant habits of +shepherd's check, and have pleased every good judge who has seen +them. If quite sure that you have as much common sense and +independence as these young ladies, imitate them, but if not, +wear the regulation close, dark cloth habit throughout the year, +be uncomfortable, and lose half the benefit of your summer rides +from becoming overheated, to say nothing of being unable to "keep +trotting" as long as you could if suitably clothed for exercise. +But might you not, if your habit were thin, catch cold while your +horse was walking? You might if you tried, but probably you would +not be in a state so susceptible to that disaster as you would if +heavily dressed. + +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 safety, and if you start +for a long excursion, you must use your common sense. The best +and least expensive way of solving the difficulty is to have an +ordinary habit, with the waist and skirt separate, and to wear a +lighter coat, with a habit shirt, or with a habit shirt and +waistcoat, whenever something lighter is desirable. This plan +gives three changes of dress, which should be enough for any +reasonable girl. + +But still, you do not know what color you can wear? Black is +suitable for all hours and all places, even for an English fox +hunt, although the addition of a scarlet waistcoat, just visible +at the throat and below the waist, is desirable for the field. +Dark blue, dark green, dark brown are suitable for most +occasions, and a riding master whose experience has made him +acquainted with the dress worn in the principal European +capitals, declares his preference for gray with a white +waistcoat. + +Among the habits shown by English tailors at the French +exhibition of 189, was one of blue gray, and a Paris tailor +displayed a tan-colored habit made with a coat and waistcoat +revealing a white shirt front. London women are now wearing white +waistcoats and white ties in the Park, both tie and waistcoat as +stiff and masculine as possible. + +This affectation of adopting men's dress, when riding, is +comparatively modern. Sir Walter gives the date in "Rob Roy," +when Mr. Francis sees Diana for the first time and notices that +she wears a coat, vest and hat resembling those of a man, "a mode +introduced during my absence in France," he says, "and perfectly +new to me." But this coat had the collar and wide sharply pointed +lapels and deep cuffs now known as "directoire," and its skirts +were full, and so long that they touched the right side of the +saddle, and skirts, lapels, collar and cuffs were trimmed with +gold braid almost an inch wide. The waistcoat, the vest, as Sir +Walter calls it, not knowing the risk that he ran in this half +century of being considered as speaking American, had a smaller, +but similar, collar and lapels, work outside those of the coat, +and the "man's tie" was of soft white muslin, and a muslin sleeve +and ruffles were visible at the wrists. The hat was very broad +brimmed, and was worn set back from the forehead, and bent into +coquettish curves, 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-day. + +Your habit shall not be like hers, Esmeralda, but shall have a +plain waist, made as long as you can possibly wear it while +sitting, 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 fastens, and having a very small and perfectly flat +postilion, or the new English round back. Elizabeth of Austria +may wear a princess habit, if it please her, but would you, +Esmeralda, be prepared, in order to have your habit fit properly, +to postpone buttoning it until after you were placed in the +saddle, 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 counties? The sleeves shall not be so +tight that you can feel them, nor shall the armholes be so close +as to prevent you from clasping your hands above your head with +your arms extended at full length, and the waist shall be loose. +If you go to a tailor, Esmeralda, prepare yourself to make a firm +stand on this point. Warn him, in as few words as possible, that +you will not take the habit out of his shop unless it suits you, +and do not allow yourself to be overawed by the list of his +patrons, all of whom "wear their habits far tighter, ma'am." +Unless you can draw a full, deep breath with your habit buttoned, +you cannot do yourself or your teacher any credit in trotting, +and you will sometimes find yourself compelled to give your +escort the appearance of being discourteous by drawing rein +suddenly, leaving him, unwarned, to trot on, apparently +disregarding your plight. Both your horse and his will resent +your action, and unless he resemble both Moses and Job more +strongly than most Americans, he will have a few words to say in +regard to it, after you have repeated it once or twice. And, +lastly, Esmeralda, 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 it, and stating his reasons for objecting to +it, and you best know whether or not a little lecture of that +sort will be agreeable, especially if delivered in the presence +of other women. Warn your tailor of your determination, then, and +if his devotion to his ideal should compel him to decline your +patronage, go to another, until you find one who will be content +not to transform you into the likeness of a wooden doll. Women +are not made to advertise tailors, whatever the tailors may +think. + +What must you pay for your habit? You may pay three hundred +dollars, if you like, although that price is seldom charged, +unless to customers who seem desirous of paying if, but the usual +scale runs downward from one hundred and fifty dollars. This +includes cloth and all other materials, and finish as perfect +within as without, and is not dear, considering the retail price +of cloth, the careful making, and the touch of style which only +practised hands can give. The heavy meltons worn for hunting +habits in England cost seven dollars a yard; English tweeds which +have come into vogue during the last few years in London, cost +six dollars, broadcloth five dollars; rough, uncut cheviots, +about six dollars; and shepherds' checks, single width, about two +dollars and a half. For waistcoats, duck costs two dollars and a +quarter a yard, and fancy flannels and Tattersall checks anywhere +from one dollar and a half to two dollars. The heavy cloths are +the most economical in the end, because they do not wear out +where the skirt is stretched over the pommel, the point at which +a light material is very soon in tatters. + +The small, flat buttons cost twenty-five cents a dozen; the fine +black sateen used for linings may be bought for thirty-five cents +a yard, and canvas for interlinings for twenty-five cents. With +these figures you may easily make your own computations as to the +cost of material, for unless a woman is "more than common tall," +two yards and a half will be more than enough for her habit +skirt, which should not rest an inch on the ground on the left +side when she stands, and should not be more than a quarter of a +yard longer in its longest part. Two lengths, with allowance for +the hem two inches deep are needed for the skirt, and when very +heavy melton is used, the edges are left raw, the perfect riding +skirt in modern eyes being that which shows no trace of the +needle, an end secured with lighter cloths by pressing all the +seams before hemming, and then very lightly blind-stitching the +pointed edges in their proper place. + +Strength is not desirable in the sewing of a habit skirt. It is +always possible that one may be thrown, and the substantial +stitching which will hold one to pommel and stirrup may be fatal +to life. So hems are constructed to tear away easily, and seams +are run rather than stitched, or stitched with fine silk, and the +cloth is not too firmly secured to the wide sateen belt. The +English safety skirts, invented three or four years ago, have the +seam on the knee-gore open from the knee down to the edge, and +the two breadths are caught together with buttons and elastic +loops, all sewed on very lightly so as to give way easily. The +effect of this style of cutting is, if one be thrown, to +transform one into a flattered or libelous likeness of Lilian +Russell in her naval uniform, prepared to scamper away from one's +horse, and from any other creatures with eyes, but with one's +bones unbroken and one's face unscathed by being dragged and +pounded over the road, or by being kicked. + +For the waist and sleeves, Esmeralda, you will allow as much as +for those of your ordinary frocks, and if you cannot find a +fashionable tailor who will consent to adapt himself to your +tastes and to your purse, you may be fortunate enough to find men +who have worked in shops, but who now make habits at home, +charging twenty-five dollars for the work, and doing it well and +faithfully, although, of course, not being able to keep +themselves informed as to the latest freaks of English fashion by +foreign travellers and correspondents, as their late employers +do. There are two or three dressmakers in Boston and five or six +in New York whose habits fit well, and are elegant in every +particular, and, if you can find an old-fashioned tailoress who +really knows her business, and can prepare yourself to tell her +about a few special details, you may obtain a well-fitting waist +and skirt at a very reasonable price. + +Of these details the first is that the sateen lining should +be black. Gay colors are very pretty, but soon spoiled by +perspiration, and white, the most fitting lining for a lady's +ordinary frock, is unsuitable for a habit, since one long, warm +ride may convert it into something very untidy of aspect. This +lining, of which all the seams should be turned toward the +outside, should end at the belt line, and between it and the +cloth outside should be a layer of canvas, cut and shaped as +carefully as possible, and the whalebones, each in its covering, +should be sewed between the canvas and the sateen. If a waistcoat +be worn, it should have a double sateen back with canvas +interlining, and may be high in the throat or made with a step +collar like that of the waist. The cuffs are simply indicated by +stitching and are buttoned on the outside of the sleeve with two +or three buttons. Simulated waistcoats, basted firmly to the +shoulder seams and under-arm seams of the waist, and cut high to +the throat with an officer collar, are liked by ladies with a +taste for variety, and are not expensive, as but for a small +quantity of material is required for each one. They are fastened +by small hooks except in those parts shown by the openings, and +on these flat or globular pearl buttons are used. + +When a step collar and a man's tie are worn, the ordinary high +collar and chemisette, sold for thirty-eight cents, takes the +place of the straight linen band worn with the habit high in the +throat, and the proper tie is the white silk scarf fastened in a +four-in-hand knot, and, if you be wise, Esmeralda you will buy +this at a good shop, and pay two dollars and a quarter for it, +rather than to pay less and repent ever after. Some girls wear +white lawn evening ties, but they are really out of place in the +saddle, in which one is supposed to be in morning dress. Wear the +loosest of collars and cuffs, and fasten the latter to your habit +sleeves with safety pins. The belts of your habit skirt and waist +should also be pinned together at the back, at the sides, and the +front, unless your tailor has fitted them with hooks and eyes, +and if you be a provident young person, you will tuck away a few +more safety pins, a hairpin or two, half a row of "the most +common pin of North America," and a quarter-ounce flash of +cologne, in one of the little leather change pouches, and put it +either in your habit pocket or your saddle pocket. Sometimes, +after a dusty ride of an hour or two, a five-minute halt under +the trees by the roadside, gives opportunity to remove the dust +from the face and to cool the hands, and the cologne is much +better than the handkerchief "dipped in the pellucid waters of a +rippling brook," _a la_ novelist, for the pellucid brook of +Massachusetts is very likely to run past a leather factory, in +which case its waters are anything but agreeable. Whether or not +your habit shall have a pocket is a matter of choice. If it have +one, it should be small and should be on the left side, just +beyond the three flat buttons which fasten the front breadth and +side breadth of your habit at the waist. When thus placed, you +can easily reach it with either hand. + +Fitting the habit over the knee is a feat not to be effected by +an amateur without a pattern, and the proper slope and adjustment +of the breadths come by art, not chance; but Harper's Bazaar +patterns are easily obtained by mail. The best tailors adjust the +skirt while the wearer sits on a side saddle, and there is no +really good substitute for this, for, although one my guess +fairly well at the fir of the knee, nothing but actual trial will +show whether or not, when in the saddle, the left side of the +skirt hangs perfectly straight, concealing the right side, and +leaving the horse's body visible below it. When your skirt is +finished, no matter if it be made by the very best of tailors, +wear it once in the school before you appear on the road with it, +and, looking in the mirror, view it "with a crocket's eye," as +the little boy said when he appeared on the school platform as an +example of the advantages of the wonderful merits of oral +instruction. + +An elastic strap about a quarter of a yard long should be sewed +half way between the curved knee seam and the hem, and should be +slipped over the right toe before mounting, and a second strap, +for the left heel, should be sewed on the last seam on the under +side of the habit, to be adjusted after the foot is placed in the +stirrup. The result of this cutting and arrangement is the +straight, simple, modern habit which is so great a change from +the riding dress of half a century ago, with its full skirt which +nearly swept the ground. The short skirt first appears in the +English novel in "Guy Livingstone," and is worn by the severe and +upright Lady Alice, the dame who hesitated not to snub Florence +Bellasis, when snubbing was needful, and who was a mighty +huntress. Now everybody wears it, and the full skirts are seen +nowhere except in the riding-school dressing-rooms, where they +yet linger because they may be worn by anybody, whereas the plain +skirts fits but one person. It seems odd that so many years were +required to discover that a short skirt, held in place by a strap +placed over the right toe and another slipped over the left heel, +really protected the feet more than yards of loosely floating +cloth, but did not steam and electricity wait for centuries? +Since the new style was generally adopted, Englishwomen allow +themselves the luxury of five or six habits, instead of the one +or two formerly considered sufficient, but each one is worn for +several years. When the extravagant wife, in Mrs. Alexander's "A +Crooked Path," suggests that she may soon want a new habit, her +husband asks indignantly, "Did I not give you one two years ago?" + +The trousers may mach the habit or may be of stockinet, or the +imported cashmere tights may be worn. Women who are not fat and +whose muscles are hard, may choose whichsoever one of these +pleases them, but fat women, and women whose flesh is not too +solid, must wear thick trousers, and would better have them lined +with buckskin, unless they would be transformed into what Sairey +would call "a mask of bruiges," and would frequent remark to Mrs. +Harris that such was what she expected. Trousers with gaiter +fastenings below the knee are preferred by some women who put not +their faith in straps alone, and knee-breeches are liked by some, +but to wear knee breeches means to pay fifteen dollars for long +riding-boots, instead of the modest seven or eight dollars which +suffice to buy ordinary Balmoral boots. Gaiters must button on +the left side of each leg, and trouser straps may be sewed on one +side and buttoned on the other, instead of being buttoned on both +sides as men's are. Tailors sometimes insist on two buttons, but +as a woman does not wear her trousers except with the strap, it +is not difficult to see why she needs to be able to remove it. +The best material for the strap is thick soft kid, or thin +leather lined with cloth. The thick, rubber strap used by some +tailors is dangerous, sometimes preventing the rider from placing +her foot in the stirrup, sometimes making her lose it at a +critical moment. Whether breeches, tights, or trousers are worn, +they must be loose at the knee, or trotting will be impossible, +and the rider will feel as if bound to the second pommel, and +will sometimes be unable to rise at all. + +As to gloves, the choice lies between the warm antelope skin +mousquetaires at two dollars a pair, and the tan-colored kid +gauntlets at the same price. The former are most comfortable for +winter, the latter for summer, and neither can be too large. +Nobody was ever ordered out for execution for wearing black +gloves, although they are unusual, and now and then one sees a +woman, whose soul is set on novelty, gorgeous in yellow cavalry +gauntlets, or even with white dragoon gauntlets, making her look +like a badly focused photograph. + +Lastly, as to the hat. What shall it be, Esmeralda? + +No tuft of grass-green plumes for you, like Queen Guinevere's, +nor yet the free flowing feather to be seen in so many beautiful +old French pictures, nor the plumed hat which "my sweet Mistress +Ann Dacre" wore when Constance Sherwood's loving eyes first fell +upon her, but the simple jockey cap, exactly matching your habit, +and costing two dollars and a half or three dollars; the Derby +cap for the same price or a little more; or, best of all, the +English or the American silk hat, as universally suitable as a +black silk frock was in the good old times when Mrs. Rutherford +Birchard Hayes was in the White House. The English Henry Heath +hat at seven or eight dollars, with its velvet forehead piece and +its band of soft, rough silk, stays in place better than any +other, but it is too heavy for comfort. If you can have an +American hatter remodel it, making it weigh half a pound less, it +will be perfection, always provided that he does not, as he +assuredly will unless you forbid it, throw away the soft, rough +band, which keeps the hat in place, and substitute one of the +American smooth bands, designed to slip off without ruffling the +hair, and doing it instantly, the moment that a breeze touches +the brim of the hat. A hunting guard, fastened at the back of the +hat brim and between two habit buttons is better than an elastic +caught under the braids of your hair, for when an elastic does +not snap outright, it is always trying to do so, and in the +effort holds the hat so tightly on the head so as sometimes to +give actual pain. The hunting guard is no restraint at all unless +the hat flies off, in which case it keeps it from following the +example of John Gilpin's, but with the Henry Heath lining, your +hat is perfectly secure in anything from a Texas Norther to a New +England east wind. If you follow London example, and wear a straw +hat for morning rides, sew a piece of white velvet on the inner +side of the band, and your forehead will not be marked. + +Arrayed after these suggestions, Esmeralda, you will be +inconspicuous, and that is the general aim of the true lady's +riding dress, with the exception of those worn by German +princesses, when, at a review, they lead the regiments which they +command. Then, their habits may be frogged and braided with gold, +or they may fire the air in habit and hat of white and scarlet, +the regimental colors, as the Empress of Germany did the other +day. If you were sure of riding as these royal ladies do, perhaps +even white and scarlet might be permitted to you, but can you +fancy yourself, Esmeralda, sweeping across a parade ground with a +thousand horsemen behind you, and ready to salute your sovereign +and commander-in-chief at the right moment, and to go forward +with as much precision as if you, too, were one of those +magnificently drilled machines brought into being by the man of +blood and iron? + + + + + +XIII. + + 'Tis an old maxim in the schools, + That flattery's the food of fools. + _Swift_. + + +If American children and American girls were the angels which +their mothers and their lovers tell them that they are, the best +possible riding master for them would be an American soldier who +had learned and taught riding at West Point. Being of the same +race, pupil and teacher would have that vast fund of common +memories, hopes and feelings; that common knowledge of character, +of good qualities and of defects, and that ability to divine +motives and to predict action which constitute perfect sympathy, +and their relations to one another would be mutually agreeable +and profitable. Unfortunately, Esmeralda, you, like possibly some +other American girls, are not an angel, and if you were, you +could not have such a riding master, 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 art. Who, then, shall be his substitute? Clearly, +either a person sufficiently patient and clever to neutralize the +faults of American women, or one capable of adapting himself to +them, of eluding them, and of forcing a certain quantity of +knowledge upon his pupils, almost in spite of themselves. The +former is hardly to be found among natives of the United States; +the latter can be found nowhere else, except, possibly, 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 ago. + +A foreign teacher, whether French, German, or Hungarian, always +regards himself in the just and proper European manner as the +superior of his pupil. The traditions in which he has been +reared, in which he has been instructed, not only in riding, but +in all other matters, 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 office, and who expected and +received as much deference from their pupils as from their +congregations. Undeniably, there are unruly children in European +schools, but their rebelliousness is never encouraged, and their +teachers are expected to quell it, not to submit to it, much less +to endeavour to avoid it by giving no commands which are +distasteful. Even in the worst conducted private schools on the +continent, there is always at least one master who must be +obeyed, whose authority is held as beyond appeal, and in the +school conducted either by the church or by civil authority, the +duty of enforcing perfect discipline is regarded as quite as +imperative as that of demanding well-learned lessons. + +Passing through these institutions, 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 pulpit. And, indeed, had he been +reared under the tutelage of one of those modern silver-tongued +American pedagogues, who make gentle requests lest they should +elicit antagonism by commands, the military school should soon +completely alter the complexion of his ideas, for he would find +his failures in the execution of orders treated as disobedience. +He would not be punished at first, it is true, but pretty +theories that he was nervous, or ill, or the victim of hereditary +disability, or of fibre too delicately attenuated to perform any +required act, would not be admitted except, indeed, as a reason +for expulsion. Moreover, the tests to which he would be compelled +to submit before this escape from discipline lay open to him, +would be neither slight nor easily borne, 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 discipline. + +"Will you teach me how to ride, sir?" asked a Boston man of a +Hungarian soldier, one of the pioneers among Boston instructors. + +"Will I teach you! Eh! I don't know," said the exile dolefully, +for during his few weeks in the city, he had seen something of +the ways of the American who fancies himself desirous of being +taught. "Perhaps you will learn, but will--I--teach--you? +You can ride?" + +"A little." + +"Very well! Mount that horse, and ride around the ring." + +Away went the pupil, doing his best, but before he had traversed +two sides of the school, the master shouted to the horse, and the +pupil was sitting in the tan. He picked himself up, and returned +to the mounting-stand, saying: "Will you tell me how to stay on +next time?" + +"I will," cried the Hungarian in a small ecstasy; "and I will +make a rider of you!" And he did, too, and certainly took as much +pleasure in his pupil in the long course of instruction which +followed, and in the resultant proficiency. + +In European riding-schools for ladies, there is, of course, no +resort to corporal punishment, but there is none of that careful +abstention from telling disagreeable truths which popular +ignorance extracts from American teachers in all schools, except +in the military and naval academies. Indeed, the need of it is +hardly felt, for that peculiar self-consciousness which makes an +American awkward under observation and restive under reproof is +scarcely found in countries not democratic, and the "I'm ez good ez +you be" feeling that is at the bottom of American intractability, +has no chance to flourish in lands where position is a matter of +birth and not of self-assertion. + +A French woman, compelled to make part of her toilet in a railway +waiting-room under the eyes of half a score of enemies, that is +to say, of ten other women, arranges her tresses, purchased or +natural, uses powder-puff and hare's foot if she choose, and turns +away from the mirror armed for conquest; but an American similarly +situated, forgets half her hair-pins, does not dare to wash her +face carefully lest some one should sniff condemnation of her +fussiness, and looks worse after her efforts at beautifying. A +French girl, told that her English accent is bad, corrects it +carefully; an American, gently reminded that a French "u" is not +pronounced like "you," changes it to "oo," and stares defiance +at Bocher and all his works. And even that commendable reserve +which hinders well-bred Americans from frank self-discussion, +stands in the way of perfect sympathy between him and the +European master, representative of races in which everybody, +from an emperor in his proclamations to the peasant chatting over +his beer or _petit vin_, may discourse upon his most recondite +peculiarities. + +For all these reasons, the European riding master is often +misunderstood, even by his older pupils, and young girls almost +invariably mistake his patient reiteration and his methodical +vivacity for anger, so that his classes seldom contain any pupils +not really anxious to learn, or whose parents are not determined +that they shall learn in his school and no other. Teaching is a +matter of strict conscience with him, and even after years of +experience, and in spite of more than one severe lesson as to +American sensitiveness, he continues to speak the truth. Even +when his pupils have become what the ordinary observer calls +perfect riders, he allows no fault to go unreproved, although +nobody can more thoroughly enjoy the evening classes, organized +by fairly good riders rather for amusement than for instruction. +If you think you can endure perfect discipline and incessant +plain speaking go to him, Esmeralda. + +If you cannot, take the other alternative, the American or the +English master, but remember that it is only by absolute +submission that you will obtain the best instruction which he is +capable of giving. If you do not compel him to tax his mind with +remembering all your foibles and weaknesses, you may, thanks to +race sympathy, learn more rapidly at first from him than from a +foreigner, and, unless you are rude and insubordinate to the +point of insolence, you may depend upon receiving no actual +harshness from him, although he will refuse to flatter you, and +will repeat his warnings against faults, quite as persistently as +any foreigner. + +A very little observation of your fellow pupils will show you +that presumption upon his good nature is wofully common, and that +his American inability to forget that a woman is a woman, even +when she conducts herself as if her name were Ursa or Jenny, +often subjects him to stupendous impertinence, which he receives +with calm and silent contempt. You will find that his instruction +follows the same lines as that of all foreign masters in the +United States, for there is no American system of horsemanship, +the traditions of the army, and of the north, being derived +from France, those of the south fro, England, and those of the +southwest from Spain, by the way of Mexico and Texas. Under +his instruction, you will remain longer in the debatable land +between perfect ignorance of horsemanship, and being a really +accomplished rider, than you would if taught by a foreigner, but, +as has already been said, you will learn more rapidly at first, +an the result, if you choose to work hard, will be much the same. + +Should you, by way of experiment, choose to take lessons from +both native and foreign masters, you will find each frankly ready +to admit the merits of the other, and to acknowledge that he +himself is better suited to some pupils than to others and, to +come back to what was told you at the outset, you will find them +unanimous in assuring you that your best teacher, the instructor +without whose aid you can learn nothing, is yourself, your +slightly rebellious, but withal clever, American self. You can +learn, Esmeralda. There is no field of knowledge into which the +American woman has attempted to enter, in which she has not +demonstrated her ability to compete, when she chooses to put +forth all her energy, with her sisters of other nations, but she +must work, and must work steadily. There are American teachers of +grammar who cannot parse; American female journalists who cannot +write; American women calling themselves doctors, but unable to +make a diagnosis between the cholera and the measles; and +American women practising law and dependent for a living on +blatant self-advertising, but with the faculties of Vassar and +Wellesley in existence; with the editor of Harper's Bazar +receiving the same salary as Mr. Curtis; with American women +acknowledged as a credit to the medical and to the legal +profession--what of it? The American woman can learn anything, +can do anything. Do you learn to ride, and, having done it, "keep +riding." At present you have received just sufficient instruction +to qualify you to ride properly escorted, on good roads, but-- + + "KEEP RIDING!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE RIDING-SCHOOL; CHATS WITH +ESMERALDA*** + + +******* This file should be named 10539.txt or 10539.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/5/3/10539 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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