The same remarks apply also to the spur--the abuses of which are even more general and lamentable than are those of the whip.
[Illustration: THE HORSE LEARNED TO LOVE ME.]
I have hitherto been surmising that your rides have been upon your own horse: one specially purchased for you, and perfectly trained for a lady’s use. If such a state of things could always be ensured, equestrianism would be a safe and delightful pastime for the gentler sex--but, unfortunately, it cannot be so. Ladies who are much in the saddle are called upon often to ride a variety of horses, and under such circumstances their position is an awkward one, if unaccustomed to manage any save thoroughly-trained and well-mannered animals. To have none other for one’s own use is at all times advisable, so far as it can be done, but occasions may arise when you will have to prove your claim to a higher title than that of merely a “nice” or “ladylike” rider. Say, for instance, that you are stopping at a country house, your invitation to which has not been extended to your horse, or yet to your groom, and that there are riding parties every day, which you are invited to join, your host sometimes supplying you with a mount, and a neighbour occasionally offering to lend you one, it is scarcely probable that, having a different animal to carry you every time you go out, you can hope to escape discovering the uncomfortable effects which pernicious training, or subsequent injudicious handling, invariably bring about. To be prepared for these--not to be taken aback by them--to be ready to face every emergency, and overcome every difficulty in the way of equitation--is the true meaning of the word “horsewoman.” It shall be my office, then, in this chapter to endeavour to tell you as concisely as possible how to act (in all cases of ordinary road-riding), when called upon to control horses with whose ways you are not altogether familiar.