A Woman Tenderfoot | Page 4

not malign him) that the accomplishment of a thing depends largely
upon one's mental attitude, and this was mine all nicely taken--in New
York:--
"This thing has been done before, and done well. Good; then I can do it,
and enjoy it too."
I particularly insisted upon the latter clause--in the East. This formula is
applicable in any situation. I never should have gotten through my
Western experiences without it, and I advise you, my dear
Woman-who-goes-hunting-with-her-husband, to take a large stock of it
made up and ready for use. There is one other rule for your conduct, if
you want to be a success: think what you like, but unless it is pleasant,
_don't say it_.
Is it better to ride astride? I will not carry the battle ground into the East,
although even here I have my opinion; but in the West, in the
mountains, there can be no question that it is the only way. Here is an
example to illustrate: Two New York women, mother and daughter,
took a trip of some three hundred miles over the pathless Wind River
Mountains. The mother rode astride, but the daughter preferred to
exhibit her Durland Academy accomplishment, and rode sidesaddle,
according to the fashion set by an artful queen to hide her deformity.
The advantages of health, youth and strength were all with the daughter;
yet in every case on that long march it was the daughter who gave out
first and compelled the pack train to halt while she and her horse rested.
And the daughter was obliged to change from one horse to another,
while the same horse was able to carry the mother, a slightly heavier
woman, through the trip. And the back of the horse which the daughter
had ridden chiefly was in such a condition from saddle galls that the
animal, two months before a magnificent creature, had to be shot.
I hear you say, "But that was an extreme case." Perhaps it was, but it
supports the verdict of the old mountaineers who refuse to let any horse

they prize be saddled with "those gol-darned woman fripperies."
There is also another side. A woman at best is physically handicapped
when roughing it with husband or brother. Then why increase that
handicap by wearing trailing skirts that catch on every log and bramble,
and which demand the services of at least one hand to hold up
(fortunately this battle is already won), and by choosing to ride
side-saddle, thus making it twice as difficult to mount and dismount by
yourself, which in fact compels you to seek the assistance of a log, or
stone, or a friendly hand for a lift? Western riding is not Central Park
riding, nor is it Rotten Row riding. The cowboy's, or military, seat is
much simpler and easier for both man and beast than the Park
seat--though, of course, less stylish. That is the glory of it; you can go
galloping over the prairie and uplands with never a thought that the trot
is more proper, and your course, untrammelled by fenced-in roads, is
straight to the setting sun or to yonder butte. And if you want a spice of
danger, it is there, sometimes more than you want, in the presence of
badger and gopher holes, to step into which while at high speed may
mean a broken leg for your horse, perhaps a broken neck for yourself.
But to return to the independence of riding astride:
One day I was following a game trail along a very steep bank which
ended a hundred feet below in a granite precipice. It had been raining
and snowing in a fitful fashion, and the clay ground was slippery,
making a most treacherous footing. One of the pack animals just ahead
of my horse slipped, fell to his knees, the heavy pack overbalanced him,
and away he rolled over and over down the slope, to be stopped from
the precipice only by the happy accident of a scrub tree in the way.
Frightened by this sight, my animal plunged, and he, too, lost his
footing. Had I been riding side-saddle, nothing could have saved me,
for the downhill was on the near side; but instead I swung out of the
saddle on the off side and landed in a heap on the uphill, still clutching
the bridle. That act saved my horse's life, probably, as well as my own.
For the sudden weight I put on the upper side as I swung off enabled
him to recover his balance just in time. I do not pretend to say that I can
dismount from the off side as easily as from the near, because I am not
accustomed to it. But I have frequently done it in emergencies, while a
side-saddle