foot posts and rails with
ease, so the children who rode him were unconsciously carried a far
greater height than they imagined, for we all know that a big jumper
makes a fine leap, even over small fences. In teaching children to ride
we should always provide them with saddles in which they can obtain the
grip that we ourselves require, and should see that the length of the
stirrup-leather is correct. We should remember that the young
horsewoman, however tiny she may be, requires to be provided with the
best and safest appliances in the matter of stirrup, safety bar, and
safety skirt, that we can give her; and I may say that if I had a
daughter I would never allow her to ride unless her saddle was provided
with Champion and Wilton's safety bar, which I use, and unless she wore
my skirt or the safe little coat shown in Fig. 57. If reliance has to be
placed on a safety stirrup in the absence of Champion and Wilton's
safety bar, only the capped stirrup-iron (Fig. 18) or the slipper
stirrup (Fig. 19) should be employed. I have no faith in one-sided
safety stirrups for young girls, for we cannot put old heads on young
shoulders in the matter of careful attention about placing the foot in
the safety stirrup from the proper side. A groom may put the stirrup
correctly on the foot of his young mistress before starting out with her
for a quiet ride, but these men naturally know nothing about the correct
length of the stirrup leather, and during the ride the stirrup may come
out of the foot and be caught haphazard by the rider, with the result
that, should she become unseated and thrown from her saddle by her horse
suddenly shying with her, she may be dragged and killed. I therefore
cannot too strongly recommend all mothers to see that their daughters'
saddles are provided with reliable safety bars, and of course that the
children are provided with safety skirts, for a safety bar is useless if
the rider's skirt catches on the upper crutch and holds her suspended.
In July 1897 a young daughter of a well-known nobleman was dragged by
her stirrup and killed while exercising her pony in a paddock. As the
stirrup was of a one-sided pattern, it must have been negligently placed
the wrong way (Fig. 31) on the foot of the poor girl, who was only
fifteen years old. I heard that rider, saddle, and pony were all buried
on the same day. I would not be inclined to blame the groom if he were
inexperienced, as many are, in the one-sidedness of so-