Riding and Driving for Women Part 3

With regard to playing polo, many women have the idea that they can only play polo in a man's saddle. My opinion, based on my own experience and the experience of many of my friends, is directly to the contrary. Many women play polo, and play it very well, in a side-saddle, and I do not know any reason why a woman cannot play at least as well riding in a side-saddle as riding astride. She certainly has a more secure seat in the side-saddle, and the first awkwardness of the back-hand stroke in this position being overcome, all the other strokes are quite as easy, and it is so much easier to ride another player off when one is in the side-saddle that all the women on both teams should ride either in the side-saddle or in the man's saddle in order to make the game fair.

CHAPTER V

HUNTING

So many books have been written on "Hunting" and the subject so exhaustively treated, that I shall only attempt to discuss under this head a few points of particular interest to women.

When a woman hunts she enters a masculine field of sport, and in the hunting-field she is meeting men on their own ground and on even terms.

In the hunting-field, therefore, a woman must expect to take her chances with the men, and she is not ent.i.tled to that courtesy and deference which she may expect on other occasions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OVER POST AND RAIL]

For example, if a woman loses her hat or stirrup, she should not expect any man to pick it up for her or to pay her the slightest attention.

Again, if a woman and a man are both going at the same fence, she should not expect him to pull up and allow her to go over first or to treat her otherwise than as he would another man. It is not field etiquette. So, if a woman has a tumble and is not disabled, she need not expect the men to give up the hunt to help her into the saddle. They are not supposed to do anything of the kind. It follows, therefore, that if, for example, a woman and a man are going at the same panel and the man has the right of way, the woman should yield to him and follow him over.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A HIGH JUMPER AND HUNTER (TACONITE)]

The following are points of hunting etiquette which must always be borne in mind; indeed, I may almost say that they are rules which must be strictly observed:

Two riders should never go at the same panel at the same time. While it is quite right for two or more riders to go at the same fence at the same time, it is not only against etiquette, but quite dangerous, for two to go at the same panel. So in going at a single panel--where, for example, there are trees or wire on both sides, or for any other reason there is only one panel in the fence which can be jumped, or where it is what is termed in hunting a "trappy place," so that the field have to go over it one after the other--if your horse refuses you should not put him at it again, but turn him away from the panel and then take your turn as soon as you have a chance to swing in; otherwise you not only violate hunting etiquette, but you are in great danger of causing an accident to the rider who is immediately behind you. Moreover, the whole field should not be held up while your horse is trying it again.

At a check all the field should, if near the hounds, stand still and keep quiet, for noise and motion disturb the hounds when they are in the act of picking up the scent.

The type of hunter suitable for a woman is described in Chapter X--"The Saddle Horse." No woman should go into the hunting-field at all unless she is a thoroughly experienced rider and has complete confidence in herself. Even then she should not attempt to ride a green hunter until she has had years of hunting experience. She should ride a qualified hunter and, however experienced she may be, she should bear in mind that, in all probability, the horse knows how to take the jumps better than she does. The maxim, "Let your mount have his head while you keep your own," will carry a woman safely and surely to the finish.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GIVING HIM HIS HEAD OVER A JUMP (HEATHERBLOOM)]

As a general rule, unless a woman knows her mount thoroughly and has ridden him many times, she should not attempt to help him over his jumps. Every horse has an individual style of jumping, and it is nearly always best to develop his own natural style and not to attempt to make him jump in a way that is unnatural to him.

There are three quite different ways in which horses jump: one by rus.h.i.+ng, one by taking the jump in the stride, and the other by popping over. One cannot say that any one of these styles is best, for it all depends on the individual horse. Some horses do best in one way, others in another; and a horse who naturally rushes his jumps can hardly ever be trained to pop over them quietly, and the horse who has jumped in his own natural style for years can jump far more safely in that style, even if it be rus.h.i.+ng, than if his rider attempts to make him jump in any other style.

For a woman the best style of jumping is that of the hunter who swings along and takes his jumps in a steady stride, and who is neither too fast nor too slow; who is up with the hounds, yet not on them.

What I am about to say with regard to the seat and hands in jumping applies to hunting in this country, not in England, for there the horses are very differently trained; but in any case a woman should always find out how a horse has been trained before attempting to jump him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: POSITIONS OF HANDS IN HUNTING

Gathering reins before taking off

Giving him his head over a jump]

When in the field the best position in which to hold the reins is to take them in both hands, the near snaffle and the near curb in the left hand in their usual position, and the off curb and off snaffle in the right hand in their usual position, the snaffle and curb in each hand being separated by the little finger. The ends of the reins come through the right hand between the thumb and forefinger and the ends are gathered in a loop which pa.s.ses between the second and third fingers of each hand. While it is not necessary to hold the reins in this position all the time in the field, it is the best position to hold them in when jumping. When the reins are held in this position the elbows should be in their usual place, unless you are riding a horse who needs to be given his head a little more, in which case they must be a little to the front. Before coming to a jump the arms should not be stiff and the hands should not be held as far apart as the loop in the reins will allow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIDE-SADDLE, POSITION RISING, HANDS AND BODY FORWARD]

The position of the body and legs is the same as I have described in chapter I, but, if anything, the stirrups should be one or two holes shorter than for ordinary riding, so as to have the left knee well bent and the leaping horn touching the left leg about five inches above the knee.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ASTRIDE, POSITION OF LEGS, HANDS, AND BODY AT TOP OF JUMP]

When approaching a jump the horse should be kept well in hand and should be gathered about two strides before the take-off. The moment he takes off he should be given his head by dropping the hands and carrying them well forward with the elbows nearly straight. This will carry the body well forward, and both body and hands should be kept in this position until the horse has cleared the jump, when the body should be thrown back, so that, when the horse lands, the rider's body will be well back in the position that it was before he took off.

In jumping, the reins should never be long and must always be held at such length that if the horse touches or stumbles he can be pulled up, and this can only be done by carrying the hands well forward in the way I have described. They must be carried forward in order to give him his head, for, when a horse comes to a jump, he throws his head very far forward so as to get his balance and exert his greatest strength.

What I have said above applies equally to a horse that rushes his jumps, to one that takes them in his stride, and to one that pops over. It is particularly important to keep a rusher well in hand and not allow him to get such speed before the take-off that he cannot rise, for, in that case, he is almost sure to crash into the fence and have a very bad fall. While most horses need a good deal of speed to carry them over the jumps, they should not be at their top speed, for if they are they will not rise.

What I have said above applies to an American-trained hunter.

If you are riding an English-trained hunter, the manner of approaching a jump is entirely different. With them, if you give them their head too much they stop, so that in order to make them jump you have to lean back and pull on the reins. If you attempt to jump an English-trained horse in the American way or an American-trained horse in the English way, you are very apt to come to grief.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIDE-SADDLE, FRONT VIEW, RISING]

What has been said above with regard to the manner of jumping a fence applies equally to jumping a ditch or anything else.

The higher or the broader a jump, the more important it is to take it correctly. The difference between the various jumps is well expressed in the old maxim, "Fast at water and ditches and slow at timber"; but there is so much timber and so few ditches and water jumps in this country, and the pace is so fast, that this advice is hard to follow.

When I say fast I refer to drag hunting.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COMING DOWN]

In hunting, a woman should be at either the front or back. It is better for her not to be in with the field, and she should regulate her pace according to the horse she is on. If in a strange country, the best thing for her to do is to follow some good rider who knows the country well rather than attempt to pick her way as she would in a country which she knew.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A GOOD TYPE OF HUNTER, BRED IN VIRGINIA (PHILOSOPHER)]

In hunting it is most important to save your horse, to keep him fresh for the jumps, and not tire him out at the start. Don't ride to the "gallery," and if you have the choice between a sensational jump and a gap, take the gap and save your hunter. Remember that you are not giving an exhibition of high jumping, nor are you in a horse-race.

Bear in mind that the master or huntsman sets the pace and that, ordinarily, particularly at the start, he should be in the lead. One should not pa.s.s the huntsman and, above all things, one should never ride up on the hounds. If you come to a ploughed field, go around it if you can, and, if you have to cross it, spare your horse as much as possible.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A GOOD TYPE OF HUNTER, BRED IN THE NORTH (RIPPLE)]

Somehow hunters go better for a woman than for a man. Perhaps it is because a woman's hands are lighter, either from ignorance or knowledge, or perhaps it is because a woman is not so insistent and is less domineering. It is always better to let the hunter jump than to jump the hunter.

Ordinarily a good hunter may be hunted at least twice in a week, but so much depends on the country, on the rider herself--to say nothing of the horse--that one cannot lay down any rule in regard to this. Between the hunts, unless after an unusually stiff run, a hunter may be larked a bit, or driven to a light trap, or walked for an hour or two. This will ordinarily keep him in better condition than letting him stand in the stable. In fact, in my own experience, I have known hunters that were hunted one day and driven to market the next, and the market I have in mind was not at all near home. Many heavy-weight hunters are driven from time to time in the wheel, and light-weight hunters in the lead, both of a four and tandem. Indeed, the leader of a tandem was originally a hunter. So that a hunter may be a useful horse in the stable.

If one has a thoroughly reliable and seasoned hunter well up to one's weight, he ought to be able, barring accidents, to carry one through the season, unless one is attempting to hunt more than twice a week, and there are few women in this country who are strong enough to do that.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORRECT HUNTING COSTUME

Note the way the thong is carried]

In chapter VIII I have indicated the costume for the hunting-field, but for convenience I will restate it here. The correct appointments for the side-saddle are:

Breeches of either dog-skin or buckskin or white cloth or of the same material as the habit.

The habit should be very dark gray, almost black, hunting cloth. The collar should be of the colors of one's hunt.