Page:Horsemanship for Women.djvu/118

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104
HORSEMANSHIP FOR WOMEN.

tween said ears (an excellent habit), look straight along the road, and not off obliquely to one side of it, then the seat, whatever else it may not be, is at least in the middle of the saddle.

The Hand.—As to the manner of carrying the arms, Colonel Hayes remarks that he has seen of late (in England) some ladies sticking out their elbows, but that he, for his part, decidedly approves of the old rule which forbade that daylight should be seen between a lady's arms and body. The sight which annoyed Colonel Hayes is not unknown in America, but probably most observers correctly attribute it either to ignorance or affectation. Certainly there is no reason for it, whether practical or aesthetic, as the raising of the elbows lifts the hands into a position in which the reins act less correctly on the horse's mouth, while substituting angles for curves in the outline of the figure, and quite destroying the air of well-bred repose which is one of the great charms of a finished horsewoman. The arms should hang naturally by the sides, with the hands, a few inches apart, just above the knee, and as low as possible without resting on it, the nails turned down, the knuckles at an angle of forty-five degrees with the horizon, the wrists bent inward so as to permit of a little play of the wrist joint at each tug of the horse on the reins.

The Poise.—All this is not very difficult so long as the horse keeps quiet, or even when he merely walks; but how is this much-admired statuesque repose to be