A Woman Tenderfoot | Page 3

of women in the
West, and I nearly said all the sensible ones, now ride astride.
When off the horse, there is nothing about this habit to distinguish it
from any trim golf suit, with the stitching up the left front which is now
so popular. When on the horse, it looks, as some one phrased it, as
though one were riding side saddle on both sides. This is accomplished
by having the fronts of the skirt double, free nearly to the waist, and,
when off the horse, fastened by patent hooks. The back seam is also
open, faced for several inches, stitched and closed by patent fasteners.
Snug bloomers of the same material are worn underneath. The
simplicity of this habit is its chief charm; there is no superfluous
material to sit upon--oh, the torture of wrinkled cloth in the divided
skirt!--and it does not fly up even in a strong wind, if one knows how to
ride. The skirt is four inches from the ground--it should not bell much
on the sides--and about three and a half yards at the bottom, which is
finished with a five-inch stitched hem.
[Illustration: COSTUME FOR CROSS SADDLE RIDING. Designed
by the Author.]
Any style of jacket is of course suitable. One that looks well on the
horse is tight fitting, with postilion back, short on hips, sharp pointed in

front, with single-breasted vest of reddish leather (the habit material of
brown whipcord), fastened by brass buttons, leather collar and revers,
and a narrow leather band on the close-fitting sleeves. A touch of
leather on the skirt in the form of a patch pocket is harmonious, but any
extensive leather trimming on the skirt makes it unnecessarily heavy.
A suit of this kind should be as irreproachable in fit and finish as a
tailor can make it. This is true economy, for when you return in the
autumn it is ready for use as a rainy-day costume.
Once you have your habit, the next purchase should be stout, heavy
soled boots, 13 or 14 inches high, which will protect the leg in walking
and from the stirrup leather while riding. One needs two felt hats (never
straw), one of good quality for sun or rain, with large firm brim. This is
important, for if the brim be not firm the elements will soon reduce it to
raglike limpness and it will flap up and down in your face as you ride.
This can be borne with composure for five or ten minutes, but not for
days and weeks at a time. The other felt hat may be as small and as
cheap as you like. Only see that it combines the graces of comfort and
becomingness. It is for evenings, and sunless rainless days. A small
brown felt, with a narrow leather band, gilt buckle, and a twist of
orange veiling around the crown, is pretty for the whipcord costume.
One can do a wonderful amount of smartening up with tulle, hat pins,
belts, and fancy neck ribbons, all of which comparatively take up no
room and add no weight, always the first consideration. Be sure you
supply yourself with a reserve of hat pins. Two devices by which they
may be made to stay in the hat are here shown. The spiral can be given
to any hat pin. The chain and small brooch should be used if the hat pin
is of much value.
At this point, if any man, a reviewer perhaps, has delved thus far into
the mysteries of feminine outfit, he will probably remark, "Why take a
hat pin of much value?" to which I reply; "Why not? Can you suggest
any more harmless or useful vent for woman's desire to ornament
herself? And unless you want her to be that horror of horrors, a
strong-minded woman, do you think you can strip her for three months
of all her gewgaws and still have her filled with the proper desire to be
pleasing in your eyes? No; better let her have the hat pins--and you
know they really are useful--and then she will dress up to those hat pins,
if it is only with a fresh neck ribbon and a daisy at her belt."

I had a man's saddle, with a narrow tree and high pommel and cantle,
such as is used out West, and as I had not ridden a horse since the hazy
days of my infancy, I got on the huge creature's back with everything to
learn. Fear enveloped me as in a cloud during my first ride, and the
possibilities of the little cow pony they put me on seemed more
awe-inspiring than those of a locomotive. But I have been reading
Professor William James and acquired from him the idea (I hope I do