288 FENCES, COUNTRY AND GATES. 



moveable D ; the lower one being a very common 

 supplementary latch, which in Fig. 129, is cunningly 

 secured by a curved piece of iron that renders the gate 

 impossible to be opened, except by a person on foot. 

 Another form of craft that we sometimes encounter, is 

 an arrangement by which the gate hangs so heavily on 

 its latch, that the would-be passer-through has to lift 

 up the gate before he or she can open it, and often 

 at an expenditure of strength of which many women 

 are incapable. To perform this feat, a rider would 

 of course have to dismount, which would be very 

 awkward, if a lady was by herself. I have met gates 

 of this annoying description on bridle paths on which 

 the public have a right-of-way. 



A gate is opened either with the hand or hunting 

 crop, the former being more efficient than the latter, 

 if the latch is within reach, which would seldom be the 

 case if the rider was on a tall horse. When the fence 

 at the side of the fastening of a gate is low enough to 

 allow the rider to place her horse's head over it, she 

 usually can, by doing so, open the fastening by whip 

 or hand, draw the gate back or push it forward, as the 

 case may be, and pass through. If the hedge at the 

 side of the fastening is too high for this to be done, 

 she will have to place herself alongside the gate, with 

 the horse's tail towards the hinges, and then open the 

 latch, by means of the hand (with or without a whip) 

 which is next to the latch. If the gate opens away 

 from her, she may have to push it forward by hand or 

 crop, unless she is on a well instructed animal, who will 



