Riding and driving for women (1912) (14790823993)

Identifier: ridingdrivingfor00beac (find matches)
Title: Riding and driving for women
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors: Beach, Belle
Subjects: Horses Horsemanship Driving of horse-drawn vehicles
Publisher: New York : C. Scribner's sons
Contributing Library: Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Digitizing Sponsor: Tufts University



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trotting horsesof the West. The reason for this is that in postingor rising to the trot, the knees should be quite well upand forward, and the Mexican saddle is so built thatin it one cannot take this position. There are two distinct types of seats recognizedin this country which may be called, for distinction,the military and park seats; the former is the correctseat for the saddle of the Mexican type. In thisseat the rider sits upright with the legs almost straight,the knees scarcely bent, and the ball of the foot rest-ing on the iron, with the leather very long. In fact,many military riders have their legs perfectly straightand their toes down. This seat is comfortable onlyon the five-gaited horses; that is, horses whosegaits are the single foot, the lope, the canter, thepace, but whose trot, instead of being the smart squaretrot of the Eastern park hack, is more of a runningwalk and is known as the fox trot. With a horsethat has a true, square trot, it will be found, as I have 42
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The Cowboy Western Costume and Saddle RIDING AND DRIVING FOR WOMEN said, that posting is both difficult and tiring withthis mihtary seat and it is ill adapted for jump-ing anything over two feet in height. In themilitary seat the trot is taken up from the ankles,so that the knees are slipping up and down,while in the park seat posting or rising is donefrom the knees, which should remain in the sameposition at all times. The park seat looks much smarter than the other,and suits the gaits of the types of horses used in theEast far better and is the proper seat for the Englishor hunting saddle. In this seat the stirrups are con-siderably shorter and the knees are well bent andcarried in front of the leathers. The feet may becarried home in the irons or resting on the ball ofthe foot, as preferred. For hunting, the former isthe position used by almost all men and equallyadvisable for women. Many of the best riders ridewith their feet home at all times because, withmost saddles, particular