Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-10-18

From st. Nicholas.
Horseback riding is curious art and you
cannot master it In one lesson. Regular les
sons Of an hour each, three times week, for
three months. Is the usual course required to
make really good rider. To make the horse
perform fancy steps, leap hedges, and that sort
of thing. requires from one to two years
study in a good school and much out-Of-door
practice. Like learning to dance, it consists in
the art of holding and carrying the body grace
fully and naturally. Very few boys and girls
in this country ever learn to walk naturally and
gracefully without instruction. and to dance or
ride one must 60 to school Walking. dancing
and riding are parts Of good education. They
give health and pleasant manners, but of the
three, riding is the most useful In giving
courage. strength manners and good health.
The body is the house we live in. 1t is
pretty good house. and should not only be neatly
clothed, but be carried In a correct and natural
manner. No one thinks of wearing torn clothes
or living in tumble-dOwn house, and why
should we not stand and walk or sit and ride in
a natural and graceful manner! We are SO
made that if we do things in the right way we
shall always find 1t the easiest way also, and
that it will enable US to be natural and graceful
at the same time.
The art of riding teaches all this, and once
learned is wonderfully easy, and becomes as
much second nature as walking, 1t consists OF
two things-a good seat and guiding the horse.
BY good seat is meant secure position on
the horse. For a boy it means to put both legs
over the horse. with the upper part of the leg
bent slightly forward, the lower part hanging
down, with the foot in the stirrup and the heel
slightly lower than the toes. Sit erect, with
the body free to sway in every direction on the
hips. For a GIRL the right leg is thrown over
the horn of the saddle, and the left hangs down
like boys. Her body is really on pivot,
through the hips, and must freely bend forward
or backward, or on either side without moving
in the saddle.
The horse. we may remark, has four feet and
a BRAIN Riding consists not only in good
seat. but the art of teaching the horse to give
up his will and to do not what he wishes but
what you wish. So you must come to an I'M
derstanding with your horse; learn his way of
thinking and his language. Left to himself he
might go the wrong way, or stand still and go
nowhere in particular. 1t might be very pleas
ant for him. but this is not what we want. So
in the school you are taught all the words of
cOmmand-tO start, to halt to trot or gallOp,
to change step, and to 90 to the right or left,
To tell it all would fill a book, and we can
only now observe In general way how
horse is managed. tits done both by voice and
by motions of the hand and body. For
instance, the word is given to start or stop, but
the riders body must be moved slightly on
the hips to help the horse. To turn to the right
or left the reins are turned very slightly, the
body is bent in the opposite direction to that
you WISH TO take. ana the horses SIDE Is
touched gently with the foot. Boys use either
foot, but girls use only the left foot. and touch
the horse on the right with riding whip This
is the merest hint of what is meant by learning
to ride. but it is enough to show. what Is done
in the ridng-school. The horse has a mind OF
his own, and though he surrenders his will to
the rider he vet watches where he is going, and
always has his wits about him. He will not
willingly fall or stumble. He will not step on
you should you fall on the ground, nor can you
drive him against wall or down a steep bank.
steam engine has no mind. and will run into
a ditch or into the river just as readily as on
the rails
The moment you get on his back you observe
that the motion is very different from walking.
As he has four legs. and as you sit between the
two pair, you are really at place between two
points of support that are continually moving.
This you have always to remember and to ride
gracefully you must conform to every motion of
your horse. If you wish him to turn sharply to
the right and change his step you lean to the
left. This throws the weight on three of his
legs and leaves the right foreleg free. and. as it
moves more easily than any other. the horse
steps out with that foot first But to give you
all the details would only weary you. The best
way to learn is to go to riding-schoOl or else
to have good teacher at home