Produced by Julia Miller, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) THE BARB AND THE BRIDLE; A HANDBOOK OF EQUITATION FOR LADIES, AND MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION IN THE SCIENCE OF RIDING, FROM THE PREPARATORY SUPPLING EXERCISES ON FOOT, TO THE FORM IN WHICH A LADY SHOULD RIDE TO HOUNDS. _Reprinted from_ "The Queen" _Newspaper._ By "VIEILLE MOUSTACHE." LONDON: THE "QUEEN" OFFICE, 346, STRAND. 1874. LONDON: PRINTED BY HORACE COX, 346, STRAND, W.C. [Illustration: THE LADY'S HORSE.] INTRODUCTION. Having received numerous applications from ladies desirous of information, as to the true principles and practice of equitation, I venture to put before the public, in book form, a series of articles which appeared originally in the columns of the _Queen_ newspaper on ladies' riding. Commencing with the calisthenic practices so necessary to a young lady before beginning her mounted lessons, these papers enter into every detail (less those of the _Haut École de Manége_) connected with the science of riding as it should be acquired by all who wish to become efficient horsewomen. As the rules laid down are precisely those upon which I have successfully instructed a great number of ladies, as my experience is of many years' standing, and acquired in the best schools in Europe, I trust the following pages may prove useful; for, while it is quite true that neither man nor woman can learn to ride by simply reading a book on the subject, still a carefully-compiled manual of equitation is always a ready means of refreshing the memory upon points of importance in the art, which, however clearly explained by the oral instruction of a first-class master, may yet in time escape the recollection of the pupil. "VIEILLE MOUSTACHE." THE BARB AND THE BRIDLE. CHAPTER I. Riding, considered as a means of recreation, as a promoter of health, or as the best mode in which to display to the greatest advantage beauty and symmetry of face and form, is perhaps unequalled among the many accomplishments necessary to a lady. Out of doors croquet may be interesting as a game, and fascinating enough when a lady has an agreeable partner, but as an exercise physically its healthfulness is doubtful. There is too much standing about, often on damp grass, too little real exertion to keep the circulation up properly, and too many intervals of quiescence, wherein a lady stands perfectly still (in a very graceful attitude no doubt) long enough in the chill evening air to create catarrh or influenza. Archery, although a far more graceful exercise than croquet, is open to the same objection as regards danger of taking cold.