12-YEAR-OLD AUTHOR

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19668, 9 December 1933, Page 11

12-YEAR-OLD AUTHOR

THE DUCHESS’S COUSIN. Miss Sarah Bowes-Lyon, who is twelve years old and a second cousin of the Duchess of York, joins the ranks of published authors to-day with an astonishingly detailed and informative book on “Horsemanship as it is To-day” (states the “Daily Mail").

She illustrates her text, which is reproduced throughout in facsimile, with drawing in ink, pencil, and wash of hunting scenes, “seats, natural and ludicrous,” and the right way to fit a head collar.

Miss Bowes-Lyon remarks that “all horses are fit for heaven, but few men;” and in the section headed “for beginners,” which is followed by hints to “more experienced,” she counsels her readers to be patient with their ponies: “Well one remembers the clear gaze of the brown eyes, the pricked ears on the head—held high—and impatient twitch of the tail of those noble steeds that bore us so gallantly at our first meet. It is those true-hearted animals

that teach us our first lessons—no master of horsemanship can ever teach us as some of our early mounts taught us." Neither novices nor the more experienced need be ashamed to profit by this gifted young horsewoman’s advice on the subtleties of good riding and the details of stable management. Her spelling may not be impeccable, but her style is terse and emphatic and her book worth pondering over. In a letter to Mr. Dent, her publisher, Miss Bowes-Lyon hopes that he is as interested in horses as she is. “I am sorry to think (she continues) that I am now at school and have so very little time for writing, but I hope to do some more in the holidays. I like being at school very much, though it is a pity that I am not able to ride my pony or go to any horse shows in the term." Her future work will be awaited with interest.