Riding has been taken up so generally in recent years by the mature members of society that its espousal by the younger element is quite in the natural order of events. We can look upon the declaration of Young America for sport with supreme gratification, as it argues well for the generation to come, but we should not lose sight of the fact that its benefits may be more than counterbalanced by injudiciously forcing these tastes. That there is danger of this is shown by the tendency to put girls on horseback at an age much too tender to have other than harmful results.

It is marvellous that a mother who is usually most careful in guarding her child's safety should allow her little one to incur the risks attendant upon riding (which are great enough for a person endowed with strength, judgment, and decision) without proper consideration of the dangers she is exposed to at the time, or a realization of the possible evil effects in the future.

Surely parents do not appreciate what the results may be, or they would never trust a girl of eight years or thereabouts to the mercy of a horse, and at his mercy she is bound to be. No child of that age, or several years older, has strength sufficient to manage even an unruly pony, which, having once discovered his power, is pretty sure to take advantage of it at every opportunity; and no woman is worthy the responsibilities of motherhood who will permit her child to make the experiment.

Even if no accident occurs, the knowledge of her helplessness may so frighten the child that she will never recover from her timidity. It is nonsense to say she will outgrow it; early impressions are never entirely eradicated; and should she in after-life appear to regain her courage, it is almost certain at a critical moment to desert her, and early recollections reassert themselves.

The vagaries of her own mount are not the only dangers to which the unfortunate child is exposed.

Many accidents come from collisions caused by some one else's horse bolting; and it is not to be expected, when their elders often lose their wits completely, that shoulders so young should carry a head cool enough to make escape possible in such an emergency.

It is a common occurrence to hear parents inquiring for a "perfectly safe horse for a child."

Such a thing does not exist, and the idea that it does often betrays one into trusting implicitly an animal which needs perhaps constant watching. If fresh or startled, the capers of the most gentle horse will not infrequently create apprehension, because totally unexpected. On the other hand, if he is too sluggish to indulge in any expressions of liveliness, he is almost sure to require skilful handling and constant urging to prevent his acquiring a slouching gait to which it is difficult to rise.

A slouching horse means a stumbling one, and, with the inability of childish hands to help him recover his balance, he is likely to fall.

Supposing the perfect horse to be a possibility—a girl under sixteen has not the physique to endure without injury to her health such violent exercise as riding. From the side position she is forced to assume, there is danger of an injured spine, either from the unequal strain on it or from the constant concussion, or both.

If a mother can close her eyes to these dangers, insisting that her child shall ride, a reversible side-saddle is the best safeguard that I know of against a curved spine; but it only lessens the chances of injury, and is by no means a sure preventive, although it has the advantage of developing both sides equally.

Another evil result of beginning too young is that if she escapes misadventures and does well, a girl is sure to be praised to such an extent that she forms a most exaggerated idea of her prowess in the saddle. By the time she is sixteen she is convinced that there is no room for improvement, and becomes careless, lapsing into many of her earlier faults. Parents should guard against this. It is often their affection which permits them to see only the good points of their daughter's riding, and their pride in her skill leads to undue flattery, which she is only too willing to accept as her due.

Later I shall mention some of the principles a young rider should acquire, and it is the duty of those who have put her in the saddle when too young to judge for herself to see that she follows them correctly. The necessity of riding in good form cannot be too firmly impressed on her mind. One often hears: "Oh, I only want to ride a little in the Park; so don't bother me about form. I ride for pleasure and comfort, not work"—all of which is wrong; for, whether in the Park, on the road, in the country, or in the hunting-field, nothing is of more importance than to ride in good form. To do so is to ride easily, being in the best position to manage the horse, and therefore it is also to ride safely.

The desire to attract attention often induces women to ride. Young girls soon learn to do likewise, and their attempts at riding for the "gallery" by kicking the horse with the heel, jerking its mouth with the curb, that she may impress people with her dashing appearance, as the poor tormented animal plunges in his endeavors to avoid the pressure, are lamentable and frequent sights in many riding-schools.

Objectionable as this is in an older person, it is doubly so in a child, from whom one expects at least modesty instead of such boldness as this betokens. It is to be hoped that those in authority will discourage her attempts at circus riding, and teach her that a quiet, unobtrusive manner will secure her more admirers than an air of bravado.