entirely on that of the hips. The two legs being on the left, the right leg is hooked round the upper crutch, and is more advanced and higher than the left leg, which presses against the leaping-head, a little above the knee, and the foot rests in the stirrup.

It has been proposed that ladies should sit on the right side of the saddle. English and American journals have dwelt on the bad effects of girls on only one side of the horse, and they have tried to make out that this practice causes curvature of the spine. As I judge only by practical observations, I cannot say how it would affect children of five or six years old ; but as I have often taught beginners of twelve or thirteen years old, I can certify most positively that girls of that age have nothing to fear on that score.

I am well aware that in England and America young girls are given their first lesson in riding by coachmen and grooms, who are apt to teach wrongly and to pass over, and even accentuate faults. The same remark applies to many riding masters who have studied both theory and practice, and who succeed, only after a long course of teaching, in correcting small mistakes, which are apt to become greater.

I maintain that if a lady is taught by a good master, her figure, instead of being spoiled by riding exclusively on the left side of the saddle, will increase in grace and suppleness. We may therefore continue to make ladies ride only on the left side. Placing her on the right side would be accompanied by the serious inconvenience of making her hold the whip in her left hand, which she cannot use as easily as her right. Her whip hand acts the part of a horseman's leg.

The position of a lady on the left side of a saddle, causes almost all the weight of her body to be carried to the right side ; consequently, the left hip being freer from weight, is apt to be stuck out behind the right hip, which is a fault that ought to be avoided. The weight of the body ought to