Fig. 18.—Lady ready to dismount.
Another, and more graceful way of dismounting is the following: The gentleman, standing about a foot from his companion and directly facing her, takes in his left hand her bridle,—as near as he can to the horse's mouth, that he may hold him as firmly and securely as possible,—the lady now drops the reins on the horse's neck, disengages her foot from the stirrup, and her leg from the second pommel, and then seats herself sideways in the saddle, so as to face her assistant, who now places the stirrup on the front of the saddle with his right hand; he then offers his right shoulder to the lady for her support. She, after gathering up in her left hand a few folds of her riding skirt, in order to have her feet free when she alights, places upon his shoulder the hand which holds the skirt, and with the other, in which she holds her whip point downward, grasps the second pommel and springs lightly from the saddle, the gentleman bending over a little as she descends. On reaching the ground, she should, as before described, bend her knees slightly to lessen the shock of the descent. ([Fig. 18.])
In all these modes of dismounting, the lady, before attempting to alight, should be sure that her skirt is quite free from the pommels, especially from the second one, and that it is so adjusted that it will not be trodden upon when she reaches the ground, but will fall evenly about her, without being in any way disarranged.
It happens not infrequently that a lady is obliged to dismount without any one to assist her, and in this case she should ride up to a horse-block so as to bring the left side of her horse close to it, let the curb reins fall upon his neck, retaining, however, the whip and snaffle-reins in her left hand, and then, removing her foot from the stirrup and her right leg from the pommel, she should seat herself a little sideways upon the saddle. Now, with a slight turn of her shoulders to the right, she should place her left hand—still holding the whip and reins—upon the second pommel, and her right hand upon the off one, and thus alight sideways with her face toward the horse's head. In effecting this manœuvre, she must be careful to retain her hold upon the snaffle-reins and also upon the second pommel until she is safe upon the horse-block; she must also remember the caution given before, in regard to having her skirts free from the pommels.
To dismount upon the ground, or upon a very low horse-block, without assistance, is a difficult feat to execute gracefully, but some young ladies in the country, who are active and light, accomplish it so easily and quickly that they do not appear awkward. The manner in which this is to be done is nearly the same as that just explained, the only difference being, that the gliding down must be effected quickly and lightly, and the rider, as she passes down, must release her hold upon the off-pommel, but retain that upon the second, also taking care to have the reins quite loose. This mode of alighting is, however, entirely out of place except in the country, where assistance cannot always be had readily, or in cases where the lady is obliged to dismount very quickly.
If the lady rider, after carefully studying these different methods of mounting and dismounting with assistance, will select the one she thinks suits her best, and then practice it a few times with her gentleman escort, she will soon find herself able to perform with ease these apparently difficult feats, and will have no need of resorting to a horse-block, nor to some secluded spot, where she can mount or dismount unobserved. A lady once told the author that the pleasure of her daily ride was at one time almost spoiled by the knowledge that she must mount and dismount in front of a hotel, the piazza of which was always crowded with observers, for, not having been properly taught to execute these manœuvres, she was rather awkward at them. She, however, placed herself under correct tuition, and soon overcame the difficulty. She can now execute these movements with such grace and elegance as to fascinate gentlemen, and excite the envy of rival belles who are still obliged to seek the aid of a horse-block.