“Meanwhile she teaches the art, of which she is indeed a past mistress, in a way which it is a pleasure and profit to see; and I can most conscientiously advise any mother to send her girls to her if she wishes them to at once become perfect horsewomen while remaining perfect ladies.”
We had so many charming pupils during our short stay in London, that I shall always regard this teaching period as one of the pleasantest events of my life. I often think about them all, and wonder how they are getting on with their riding, and, as their various difficulties have been present in my mind while writing this book, I have done my best to solve them all as clearly as possible. We put up small hurdles and got our tiny pupils to ride over them, because I saw that they had grasped my explanation and demonstrations of balance and grip, and it made them mightily proud of themselves, and keen on learning all they could about riding, when they found that they could sit over fences with ease. Although the school hurdles were small, our grey horse which they rode was a big jumper, which could negotiate a five-foot posts and rails with ease, so the children who rode him were unconsciously carried a far greater height than they imagined, for we all know that a big jumper makes a fine leap, even over small fences. In teaching children to ride we should always provide them with saddles in which they can obtain the grip that we ourselves require, and should see that the length of the stirrup-leather is correct. We should remember that the young horsewoman, however tiny she may be, requires to be provided with the best and safest appliances in the matter of stirrup, safety bar, and safety skirt, that we can give her; and I may say that if I had a daughter I would never allow her to ride unless her saddle was provided with Champion and Wilton’s safety bar, which I use, and unless she wore my skirt or the safe little coat shown in [Fig. 57]. If reliance has to be placed on a safety stirrup in the absence of Champion and Wilton’s safety bar, only the capped stirrup-iron ([Fig. 18]) or the slipper stirrup ([Fig. 19]) should be employed. I have no faith in one-sided safety stirrups for young girls, for we cannot put old heads on young shoulders in the matter of careful attention about placing the foot in the safety stirrup from the proper side. A groom may put the stirrup correctly on the foot of his young mistress before starting out with her for a quiet ride, but these men naturally know nothing about the correct length of the stirrup leather, and during the ride the stirrup may come out of the foot and be caught haphazard by the rider, with the result that, should she become unseated and thrown from her saddle by her horse suddenly shying with her, she may be dragged and killed. I therefore cannot too strongly recommend all mothers to see that their daughters’ saddles are provided with reliable safety bars, and of course that the children are provided with safety skirts, for a safety bar is useless if the rider’s skirt catches on the upper crutch and holds her suspended. In July 1897 a young daughter of a well-known nobleman was dragged by her stirrup and killed while exercising her pony in a paddock. As the stirrup was of a one-sided pattern, it must have been negligently placed the wrong way ([Fig. 31]) on the foot of the poor girl, who was only fifteen years old. I heard that rider, saddle, and pony were all buried on the same day. I would not be inclined to blame the groom if he were inexperienced, as many are, in the one-sidedness of so-called safety stirrups. Another equally terrible accident occurred in September 1893, when a young lady was dragged by her stirrup and killed while hacking along a road at Kilhendre, near Ellesmere, with her groom in attendance. As far as I could gather from the newspaper report of this sad accident, a butcher’s cart driven rapidly round a corner caused the lady’s pony to shy suddenly and unseat her, with the result that she was dragged by her stirrup and killed. At the inquest which was held on the body of this poor girl, the jurymen devoted their entire attention to the character of the animal she was riding, and as the father of the young lady, who had bred the pony himself, was able to show that it was a staunch and reliable animal, the usual verdict of accidental death was given. These twelve good men and true absolutely ignored the stirrup, which had been the sole cause of this awful occurrence, and concentrated their entire attention on the innocent pony she rode.
SADDLING A HORSE.
As a horse’s loins are ill fitted to bear weight, the saddle should be placed as far forward as it can go, without interfering with the action of his shoulder-blades, the position of the rearmost portion of which is indicated by the “saddle muscle,” which is a lump of muscle below the withers. The saddle can be placed about three inches behind it. Instead of putting the saddle on the exact part of the back it is to occupy, it is best to place it a few inches too far forward, and then to draw it back, so as to smooth down the hair under it, and thus make it comfortable for the animal. The front girth is first taken up, and then the next one, which is passed through the loop of the martingale or breast-plate, supposing that two girths of equal width are used. To prevent any wrinkles being made in the skin under the girths, and to make the pressure even, the groom should shorten the girths to about half the required extent on one side, should finish the tightening on the other side, and should run his fingers between the girths and skin in order to smooth out any wrinkles, the presence of which would be liable to cause a girth-gall. As girthing up, when the lady is mounted, will have to be done on the off side, sufficient space for that purpose will have to be left on the girth-straps of that side. After the rider has been put up, the girths should be again tightened, and it is generally advisable to repeat this operation after she has ridden her horse for a short time, especially if the animal has the trick of “blowing himself out.” With a Fitzwilliam girth, the narrow girth which goes over the broad one is passed through the loop of the martingale or breast-strap, supposing that one or both of these appliances are used. The balance strap should be tightened to a fair extent, though not quite so much as the girths, because the portion of the ribs over which it passes, expands and contracts far more than that encompassed by the girths.
If a saddle-cloth be used, the groom, before girthing up, should bring the front part of the cloth well up into the pommel with his forefinger or thumb, so as to prevent it from becoming pressed down on the withers by the saddle.