—Walt Whitman.
CHAPTER I
FORM IN RIDING
With all the changes in fashion and fads, riding still holds its own, and the field which it occupies can never be invaded. For women, quite as much as and even more than for men, it is of all exercises the one best adapted to keep them in condition, to restore the glow of health, and to key up the whole system to respond to all the delights of life. No less for a woman than for a man is the old saying true, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”
Self-made riders are apt to scoff at what is termed “form,” but “form” is neither fad nor fashion. It is that way of doing any particular thing that is recognized as the best. This is why a self-taught person is at a disadvantage. She may, possibly from her experience, have worked out the correct theory of riding, but she has not had the advantage
of learning all that has been worked out by others, and it is the assimilation of the results of others’ experience that constitutes form.
Riding should, I think, be as much a part of a child’s education as any of the subjects taught at school; in fact, I would paraphrase and say that “Reading, Riding, and ’Rithmetic” were the essential elements of every child’s education. All children find in it the keenest pleasure, and to the delicate child it offers salvation. Once the first difficulties are overcome, the benefits are soon realized. Benefits not only to the general health, with restored circulation and appetite, but to the character which acquires patience and self-control—qualities quite as essential as the proper use of hands and legs for the making of a horsewoman.
I do not, however, approve of very young children taking riding lessons. The age of seven is quite young enough, for when younger than that a child’s legs are so short that it is difficult for her to keep her balance at any gait faster than a walk. But I do approve of very young children becoming accustomed to the motion and acquiring balance by being held on the back of a very quiet pony, which, of course, should not go beyond a walk. The great danger in beginning too young is that the child may have a fall, and, if she does, may receive a shock to her
nervous system, the effects of which will make her timid about horses for years to come.
I like to have a child come to me for her lesson without fear, not timid from any past experience, yet enough awed at assuming control of so big an object as a pony to have respect for, and be dependent on, her teacher. Later on, confidence will come with increasing knowledge, and so her education as a horsewoman will be properly begun.