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.

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.

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.

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.

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 pass 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.

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.

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.

The buttons should be black, with the name, design, or monogram of the hunt in white or gold. The correct coat is made without a seam in the middle of the back and with two vents at the side instead of one in the middle, and is somewhat shorter than the habit coat that many women wear. It may be made with five or three buttons, according to the wearer’s fancy, but preferably with five.

An apron or half-apron skirt should be worn, for safety’s sake.

The boots must be of black calf. Patent-leather or russet boots are not correct in the field.

A silk hat is correct, but a derby or a hunting hat, such as I have described in chapter VIII, may be worn, and a hat guard, such as I have there described, is necessary.

Either tan dog-skin or white buckskin gloves are correct.

An Ascot stock should be worn with a plain bar gold pin.

Attached to the two D’s on the off-side of the saddle should be a sandwich case with a flask in it, a sandwich in the case, and a drink in the flask.

A pair of white woollen gloves must be carried on the off-side under the flap.

In England a crop is always carried in the field. In this country it is correct, but a cutting whip may be carried instead. If a crop is carried it may have a thong, although, personally, I think it a great nuisance.

The saddle and bridle are the same as I have described in chapter IX, except that, in the field side-saddle, a woman should always use a breastplate, and if she has a horse that cannot carry a breastplate she had better not hunt him.

As I state in chapter IX, a standing martingale should never be used in the field, but a running martingale may be used if the horse requires it, as is often the case. For many horses the best bit to use in the field is a plain snaffle, with very large rings, so that the bit cannot be pulled through the horse’s mouth. The bridle should have a cavesson, instead of the usual noseband. Other horses go better with what is known as a four-ring snaffle; that is, a snaffle which, instead of having the cheek pieces attached to the snaffle rings, has them attached to separate rings, the rings to which the cheek pieces are attached and the snaffle rings being of the same size and both much larger than the rings of an ordinary snaffle-bit. The reins only are attached to the snaffle rings in this form of bit. This bit is more severe than a plain snaffle, but much less severe than a curb.

Generally speaking, only riders with very light hands should use the curb bit in the hunting-field, unless with horses having unusually hard mouths, or “pullers.” In going over the jumps it is very difficult to keep an even pressure on the curb, and there is great danger of bringing up the horse too short on landing.