324 HUNTING. 



As one of the first principles of hunting is to spare 

 both ourselves and our horses any unnecessary fatigue, 

 a lady should, if possible, always drive to the meet, or 

 go by rail. If she has to ride, she should undertake no 

 distance beyond ten miles. I have ridden twelve, but I 

 think that is too far. If she rides her hunter, she should 

 take him quietly, alternating the pace between a walk 

 and a slow canter on the soft side of the road, the 

 orthodox pace being six miles an hour. She should 

 trot as little as possible, in order to avoid the risk 

 of giving her mount a sore back ; for trotting, if 

 she rises in the saddle, is the pace most likely to cause 

 trouble in this respect. On arriving at the meet, she 

 should never neglect the precaution of having her 

 girths tightened as may be required, for her horse will 

 have thinned down somewhat from exercise, and the 

 girths will allow of another hole or two being taken up. 

 One of the most fruitful causes of sore back is occa- 

 sioned by thoughtlessly hunting on a horse which 

 is slackly girthed up, as the friction of the saddle will 

 soon irritate the back, with the result, generally, of 

 a swelling on the off side of the withers, and on the off 

 side of the back, near the cantle. I wish to draw par- 

 ticular attention to the necessity of tightening the girths 

 of a side-saddle, even when a horse has been led to 

 a meet ; because I have found from long experience of 

 riding young horses with tender backs, as well as 

 hunters in hard condition, that, given the most perfectly- 

 fitting saddle, trouble will arise sooner or later if this 

 precaution is neglected. Some ladies are so careful 



