Alice M. Hayes

“ When we go a-hunting, I think we should forget all the petty squabbles with our neighbours, and meet for the time on terms of cordiality. Anything approaching a quarrel will spoil the day’s sport for you. Everyone should try to be genial and good-tempered, so that, even if there is only a moderate run, you return home feeling happier for the exercise and the good fellowship. There are many things to try one’s temper in the hunting field, when everybody is excited, but one should control one’s feelings and be invariably courteous in speech. ”

“ I am reminded of an instance which occurred in India, when a fine horsewoman, seeing a friend unable to make his mount jump in a paper-chase, which is nearly akin to a steeple-chase, rode him herself in the next one, with no better result, and great must have been her mortification on finding herself left on the wrong side of the first fence which the determined brute refused to look at, even when carrying this charming lady, to whom many equine bad characters had yielded obedience. ”

“ I have not enlarged on the subject of hunting pilotage, because, truth to tell, I have never indulged in the luxury of a pilot, as I have preferred to know the capabilities of my mount and to see and act for myself. I believe that any woman who can ride and manage her horse with intelligent forethought, has no more need of a paid pilot than has the small boy who takes his chance on his pony. ”

“ In the first place we ought to insist on implicit obedience, not by coaxing, but by the whip, for if a hound wilfully disobeys the person whom he loves as his mother, how much less will he be inclined to obey the orders of a stranger who is his whipper-in? When it is necessary to punish a glaring offence concerning which the lady walker, who is acting the part of mentor, has given an unheeded warning, the offender should be well whipped by someone told off to perform this operation, and when they fly to her for sympathy, she should remain silent as one who knows they have been justly punished. ”

“ Whenever a lady is dragged by skirt or stirrup and killed—an accident which, happily, occurs but rarely nowadays, for we wisely adopt the best safety appliances to prevent it—up crops that evergreen question of cross-saddle riding, as if men never come to grief! Statistics would, I think, show that, considering the large number of women who hunt, the proportion of fatal accidents to them in the hunting field is extremely small as compared with the male record. ”

“ With a young horse it is well to continue speaking to and soothing him until he has falteringly passed the cause of alarm, as the sound of his rider’s voice often inspires him with confidence at the critical moment by withdrawing his attention from the object of his fright. If a lady is riding with a friend and is engaged in conversation when her horse begins to show fear at some object of alarm, she should continue her talk, because it will give him more encouragement to go on, than sudden silence on her part, which he might take as a sign that she shares his fear. ”

“ I would strongly impress on an inexperienced lady the necessity of learning to judge pace, that is to say, to know at what speed her horse is going. The chief duty of a pilot is to set the pace for her, and to select such fences as he knows her horse is capable of jumping, the former being more important than the latter, as it is far more difficult to learn. She should see that her pilot is safely over a fence before sending her horse at it. Only practice and natural aptitude can teach a lady to judge pace: it cannot be learnt from any book. ”

“ In a field of three or four hundred horsemen and women all galloping off at once with a whiz like the sound of a flock of startled birds, there must be neither hesitation nor recklessness on the part of the young Diana, who should ride with discretion and judgment in order to steer clear of danger, especially at the first fence. There are generally a few left on the wrong side of it, and the chances are that there will not be so great a crowd at the next one. ”

“ The late Esa bin Curtis, a celebrated Arab horse dealer, in speaking of big buck-jumping Walers, said, “God hath not made man equal unto them,” and, however well a woman may ride, it is no pleasure to find herself breathless and exhausted in her efforts to control such animals. On the other hand, many small horses which play up are most difficult to sit, for, although they may not take their rider’s breath away by their display of physical power, they are like quicksilver on a frying-pan, and highly test our agility in the matter of balance and grip. ”

“ At Rentz circus in Hamburg I saw one of these awful sights, and noticed that the ringmaster kept touching the steiger on the fore-legs with the whip in order to make him paw the air. I have been told that so long as a rearing horse keeps pawing in this manner, he will not fall over, but such horrid exhibitions ought to be prevented. There is nothing more trying to the nerves of any rider than hunting on a refuser which has a tendency to rear, and I have known ladies whose nerves have been utterly shattered in their efforts to govern such dangerous brutes. ”

“ With such nasty tempered brutes, breaking is of no avail, for they are quiet as long as we allow them to set the pace and carry us as they like. A breaker who is a good horseman and possessed of extreme tact and patience, which of course is necessary, may continue the fight longer than an ordinary rider cares to do, but he can produce no permanent result, for he is unable to give the animal a new heart. Therefore, when we consider the important question of manners in a horse, we should first learn all we can about the disposition and temper of the animal both in and out of the stable. ”

“ If a lady is riding a good old hunter who insists on going his own pace, she should interfere with him as little as possible, even in her desire to steady him over bad ground and at his fences; because the large majority of these animals have their own method of doing business, and can be safely trusted to take care of themselves. If they are unduly checked in galloping, they are apt to pull very hard, and greatly tire their riders. I am, of course, alluding to good-tempered, well-made hunters which go best with a rider who sits still on their backs and trusts to their experience and honour. ”

“ A musician, if he is an artist, will accompany a weak-voiced singer so sympathetically that the sweet though not robust notes of the voice are heard to the best advantage: he is a man with good hands. A heavy-fisted player, desiring to show his command over the instrument, will try to turn the accompaniment into a pianoforte solo, and the nice notes of the struggling singer will be entirely drowned by noise. He is like the heavy-handed, unsympathetic rider. ”

“ Watch farmers’ horses loose in a field when hounds are in the vicinity, and you will see them careering madly up and down, as if they too would like to join in hunting the fox, although their avocation in life dooms them to the placid work of drawing a plough or heavy cart. ”

“ As a rider can manage a horse in a moment of danger twice as well with two hands as with one, it is impossible for her to become a fine horsewoman if she acquires the fatal habit of clutching hold of the saddle, which she inevitably will do the instant she feels insecure in her seat, or becomes nervous, if she be that way afflicted. To guard against this evil, the learner should be taught to ride in a modern English saddle, which, as we all know, has got no off pommel. ”

“ We should also try to be as useful as possible to each other; for we all admire that “nice pleasant woman” who, instead of attempting to hold us up to ridicule if our “back hair” is falling down, or anything has happened which ruffles our appearance, rides up and quietly brings the fact to our notice. I have heard female voices audibly “picking holes” in a lady’s mount, which is very unkind; for their poorer sister was doubtless riding the best horse she could get, and the hearing of such rude remarks may entirely spoil her day’s pleasure. ”

“ It is customary to blame ladies who are unable to control their horses in the hunting field; but the men who supply them with such animals are, in many cases, the more deserving of censure. There are men, not many, I hope, who consider it unnecessary for their womenkind to learn to ride before they hunt; but no one has a right to thus endanger the lives of others. Such ladies possess plenty of pluck, but not the necessary knowledge to guide their valour to act in safety. A Master of hounds told me that his nerve was so bad that he positively prayed for frost! ”

“ A perfect hack, whether for man or woman, is far more difficult to find at the present time than a good hunter, and when found will command a fancy price. The ideal hack is a showy, well-bred animal of the officer’s charger type, which has been thoroughly well “made” in all his paces. Such an animal appears at his best when executing a slow, collected canter, with arched neck and looking full of fire and gaiety, though ridden with an almost slack rein, and intent only on rendering prompt obedience to the slightest indication of his rider. ”

“ Any man or woman who knowingly rides a kicker in a large hunting field, is guilty of disgraceful conduct; because it is impossible for everyone to get [345] out of reach of this bone-breaker’s heels, during the frequent stoppages which occur out hunting. Some persons have a red bow put on their animal’s tail, or they place a hand at the small of their back, with the palm turned to the rear, as a sly device to get more elbow-room in crowds. It is evident that such artful tricks are unworthy of imitation. ”

“ A beginner who is put on a properly made saddle and suitable horse, and is taught the right principles of riding, will make more progress in a month than she would otherwise do in, say, five years. The artificiality of side-saddle riding extends even to the horse, which must be free from certain faults, such as unsteadiness in mounting, that would not render him unsuitable to carry a male rider.
Competency in the instructor is of the first importance. Nothing is more absurd than for a man who cannot ride well in a side-saddle, to try to unfold to a lady the mysteries of seat. ”

“ The level-seated fad which some fashionable saddlers try to impress on their inexperienced customers is an absurdity from a hunting point of view, because no one out of an idiot asylum would care to sit for several hours on a perfectly level surface, whether it was a saddle or a chair. The discomfort which such an attempt would entail, is due to the fact that the nature of our anatomy requires a certain amount of dip in that portion of the seat upon which most of the weight falls. The level-seated idea is purely theoretical, because no saddles are made in conformance with it. ”

“ A lady should not deceive her pilot, any more than we should withhold the truth from our doctor or lawyer. If she feels more in skirting trim than in hard hunting nerve, she should not hesitate to say so; for we all like to take things easy at times, whether it be in hunting or in anything else, according as we feel fit or otherwise. There is no gainsaying that the human barometer is regulated to a great extent by the weather, as we may see by the big fields which greet the Master on a fine hunting morning. ”

“ Their non-hunting neighbours who take down wire and over whose land they ride with safety, are obviously the better supporters of hunting, although they may not be able to afford a nag, even if they had time to devote to the sport. The farmer who takes down his wire is naturally displeased with a Hunt which favours an individual who keeps it up; but I think if all Hunt secretaries were like Colonel Henry, such delinquents would soon be brought to book, for no Master would care to see with his hounds, a farmer who kept his land wired during the hunting season. ”

“ There are two maiden ladies in Ireland, who, although they have never hunted, and are long past the age at which they are likely to do so, always, from sheer love of sport, walk a couple of foxhound puppies for their district hunt. We want, I think, more of this sporting Irish feeling among our sex, for I am sure that apart from all other considerations, a hunting woman would find more to interest her in the rearing and training of a foxhound puppy, whose career she could literally follow, than in spending money and time in clothing and nursing a useless pug or toy terrier. ”

“ Some hunters will refuse a fence at which they see the horse in front of them come to grief, and as it is only natural that any horse with brains should feel more or less frightened at such times, his rider should sympathise with him and encourage him to make an effort, in much the same way as we would coax a child to take a dose of medicine. Few horses like jumping. Whoever saw animals at liberty larking over fences from sheer delight in leaping? ”