Page:Horsemanship for Women.djvu/123

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ETIQUETTE IN THE SADDLE.
109

to pull up and pass a lady, if alone, at a walk, whether she be on foot or on horseback, and though more latitude may be allowed a lady, yet she should not gallop up suddenly behind another lady who is alone, as a nervous horse might be so excited as to cause great uneasiness to a timid rider. If you should unfortunately produce such a result, by all means pause and express regret, and if your horse is quiet, offer to ride for a few minutes beside the sufferer—for so she may be called. In passing on the road, the rule is, when meeting, to keep to the right, but when overtaking, to pass to the left, and in like manner, when overtaken, to keep to the right, so as to leave the road free at your left. The only exception to this rule is in the case of led-horses, which, as they are often inclined to kick, should be avoided by passing next to the one ridden. When approaching a lady in a public place a gentleman should always do so on the off or right side.

It is sometimes rather a nice point to decide when assistance ought to be offered by a gentleman to a lady with whom he is not acquainted, and, if offered, whether it ought to be accepted. The following incident, recounted by Sir Joseph Arnould in his "Life of Lord Chief-justice Denman," is interesting as showing how such a question was discussed in what may certainly be considered as among the very best society in England. He says that on occasion of a visit which the Lord Chief-justice paid to Walmer Castle, three years before the