For boys even, gymnastic exercises should be most carefully watched, in order that no undue strain should be thrown upon the yet unset muscle and cartilage of the frame. For young ladies I believe gymnastics to be not only unnecessary, but injurious, and that every practical result desirable can be arrived at by the use of such exercises as I have endeavoured to describe, varied occasionally by the moderate use of the dumb-bells, a few minutes of which at one time is always sufficient. Where there is a number of young people together, there is sure to be a tendency to outdo each other whenever physical exercises of any kind are introduced; and, while it is easy enough to control the pupils in the simple suppling practices I speak of, it is very difficult for any but the most experienced persons to determine how far a young lady may go without injury to herself in the exercises of the horizontal bars or trapeze ropes. If any kind of gymnastic exercises are allowed for a young lady, the best, in my opinion, are those practised with the "Ranelagh," because no hurtful strain can possibly be thrown upon the pupil; and for boys I believe the Ranelagh to be a first-rate invention, as is also the "Parlour Gymnasium," and several others on similar principles, which ignore the practice of the bars. The full practice of the gymnasium, however, for young men whose frames have attained a certain amount of maturity, is no doubt good if not carried to excess. I speak, however, only of young ladies of tender age. Assuming then, that our pupil has been prepared for riding as above described, let us proceed to consider the style of dress most suitable for her early attempts in the saddle. For very young ladies, say under twelve years of age, I believe in hair cut short in preference to flowing locks, because the latter are very apt to blow into the eyes and seriously interfere with riding. For the very juvenile equestrian tyro, the hat should be one that fastens under the chin with ribbon or something _that is not elastic_. Nothing is more important in beginning with young people on horseback than to give them confidence, and nothing so completely puts them out as anything loose about the head. For young ladies over fifteen or sixteen, hats which are fastened to the hair may be worn. But, having regard to the progress of the pupil rather than to appearance, I recommend every beginner, no matter what her age, to leave no doubt about the security of her headdress. As regards riding habits, to begin with, while they should fit sufficiently to indicate the outline of the lady's figure, all tightness should be avoided. Tight habits are very sightly to the eye; but, in common with tight corsets, steel or whalebone anywhere about the dress is fatal to that perfect liberty of movement so essential to success in a beginner.