in her appearance without having to adopt a
conventional twist.

PRACTICAL DETAILS.

The first thing for a rider to do is to place herself in a thoroughly
comfortable position on the saddle. She should sit well down in it, in
the same manner as she would sit on a chair in which she wished to lean
back, and would thus get her seat well under her, and would be able to
obtain, when required, a strong grip of the crutches. In this position
she will be able to increase her stability by bringing her shoulders
back, which she could not do with the same facility, if, instead of
leaning back, she sat back. In order to see where she is going, she
should sit more or less erect. Her left foot should be placed in the
stirrup only as far as the ball of the foot, so as to allow the ankle
joint full play. The stirrup leather should be long enough to enable the
left thigh to clear the leaping head, when the lady rises at the trot;
and short enough for it to exert full pressure against the leaping
head, by the action of the ankle joint. A correct compromise between
these two opposing conditions is obtained when the length of the leather
will just allow the flat of the hand to be easily placed between the leg
and the leaping head (Fig. 82).

[Illustration: Fig. 83.--Correct position of legs.]

The rider should obtain her grip of the leaping head just above the
point of the left knee, as shown in Fig. 83; and by rotating the right
thigh inwards, she should press the flat of that knee against the upper
crutch, as if she were trying to bring her two knees together. While
gripping in the manner described, the portion of the right leg which is
below the knee, should rest in an easy position against the horse's
near shoulder, as in Fig. 79.

[Illustration: Fig. 84.--Leaning back.]

When the beginner has learned how to sit in the saddle, she should
practise leaning back, which she can best do by gripping the crutches,
while keeping her legs in proper position (Fig. 84), and leaning her
body back until she can almost touch the horse's croup. When doing this
for the first few times, her teacher should support her, in order to
give her confidence, and the groom, if necessary, should hold the horse,
which should of course be a quiet animal. The object of this practice is
to show her that the movements of her body are entirely independent of
her grip of the crutches, and that the forward and backward motion of
her body is regulated by the a