New-York tribune., 1908-09-27
nJDrNG SCHOOLS BUSY.
y. tbe Fashion Nosc for Children
to Become Equestrians.


work riding schools are again literally
w. -,, with children. Boys scarcely out OF
o'e.i~,L s.t,ts and girls who seem made up prin-
ueI III Of hat and hosiery bestride nearly all
oli''-,s .onies that riding rings supply and
.ho-s % of eouestrianship handle
is fashionable for children to ride horse
end from cradle to saddle many of them
PA'' rilly-niIly. but children generally make
ga, ond usually enthusiastic pupils The
-..o-,ent engendered by the motion of the
- .n5 their efforts 10 control his movements
&c IN Them If fear has seized on them when
srs. find themselves carried on the back
creaf animal which they had not strength
: -oc.-ain If has soon given place to a sense of
"a fellowship with the intelligence which so
yr,,r Yields 10 the pressure Of light fingers
mon a bride.
Girls generally learn TO ride more readily than
,.,-s do Two reasons exist for this. both en-
,,,o,v ethical in their nature-a horse likes a
riobf hand 10 guide him. and responds quickly to
snch guidance, and girl is likely to be more
--nnathetic than the average boy of the short
.-ousers age and establish more quickly that in
,,-oate friendly relation between horse and rider
which is the essence of good horsemanship and
makes most for the enjoyment of the exercise.
Little and big the children are soon gradu-
s,ed from riding school to park and country
MACE With groom. relative or friend they may
no found cantering primly along city bride
Maths Or with flying locks and wrinkled sweater,
ralloping along an unfrequented country road
or 5oyously Gathering through some village.
Children get a great deal more out Of horse
hack riding than merely fun and exercise. The
lessons they learn in riding school open a way
to them for character building and develop
rent that was not taken into account when
their fond parents sent them to acquire the last
peedful touch to fashionable child education
in the riding ring opportunity 10 receive the
full value of these lessons is crcumscribed, but
when the bride is released by the teachers re-
straining hand and the child gallops out into
open byways. through woodland and field, upon
an energy scarcely understood and possessing
all the fascination Of an unknown power not
yet under control instantly begin to take shape
qualities that make for character and remain
with the child through life. He realizes that
he mus; acquire mastery over an almost human
intelligence and a vastly more than human
strength With the sense OF mastery come
self-reliance, poise and certain consciousness
Of power.
Horseback riding teaches daring and courage
1usf as it inculcates aIertness and carefulness
in conjunction with quick perception and in
slant decision In action.
Then too consideration for and sympathy
with horse lead naturally to a broader COM
prehension Of the needs Of all dumb creatures,
and that physical exhilaration which accom-
panies the exercise inspires the child with a
love of freedom and seems TO lift the mind out
of trivialities into broader and higher planes of
thought and feeling.
The horseback riding which makes for the
moral and mental elevation Of the child is the
kind which is INDUCED in for good and not for
gain The same is true of exercise when taken
as such for physical benefit and not merely in
The WAY Of labor Too much riding is as weari-
some as too little.
horseback riding The child who is permitted to
ride necessarily rarely grows as tall as he would
were the muscles OF his legs allowed proper ex-
ercise afoot A sad number Of bowlegged peo-
pie bear testimony to the foolish indulgence Of
parents who allowed their little ones TO ride
more than was good for them at age when
horseback riding should not have been q neces-
sary exercise Occasionally men are found with
an habituaI curve Of the back acquired from
riding in a STOPPING position IN their childhood.
Still more frequently may be found persons Of
ungainly gait or lacking erect carriage, de-
fects brought about by too much life in the
saddle and defects which are seldom remedied
later in life The evil effects Of a regulation
that most riding teachers now teach their
feminine patrons TO use the side saddle
In the physical development Of child nothing