182 HANDS, VOICE, WHIP AND SPUR. 



port her leg while her knee is removed from the flap 

 of the saddle when using the spur. This leaping 

 head, which almost encircles the left leg, would, of 

 course, be a most dangerous thing to use when 

 hunting. The spurred lady also has a spur clamped 

 on to her whip, in order that she may be able to 

 prod her horse equally on both sides. The whip- 

 spur (Fig. 91) is like a wheel with sharp spokes 

 and no tyre. The application of the spur by Conti- 

 nental ecuyeres, especially in obtaining the more difficult 

 airs, is more or less constant, so as to keep the animal 

 in a continued state of irritation. I went behind the 

 scenes in a well-known circus in Paris, where I saw a 

 lady mounted and waiting to go on and give her per- 

 formance. A man was holding her horse's head, and a 

 second attendant, with a spur in his hand, was digging 

 the unfortunate animal on the near side under her 

 habit, which he was holding up for the purpose. He 

 took care to inflict the cruel punishment on a part 

 of the horse's body which would not be seen by the 

 public ! The animal, being unable to advance, was 

 lifting his legs up and down (doing the piaffer], and 

 sighing and groaning in agony. When the circus doors 

 were opened and relief thus came to him, he bounded 

 into the arena like a fury, amidst the thunderous 

 applause of the audience ! I should have liked to have 

 seen that spur-man punished for cruelty to animals, for 

 if the performance went on, as I believe it did, every 

 night, that horse's near side must have been in a 

 shocking condition ! It is by no means an unusual 



