HUNTING COATS. 361 



but a first class tailor can make out of it a comfortable coat 

 for riding. 



The great point about the fitting of a hunting coat, is that 

 it should have plenty of room under the arms, so that it may 

 offer no impediment to the wearer in using his hands on the 

 reins. This indispensable requirement is greatly neglected by 

 tailors, few of whom know anything of horsemanship. The 

 riding men who suffer most from neglect in this matter, are 

 those who are muscular in the arms and shoulders, and who 

 consequently need extra room in the " sigh," as tailors call the 

 part of a coat which covers the armpit on each side. The 

 coat should also be roomy across the chest. For purposes 

 of warmth, the lining of the coat round each wrist as a 

 rule is respectively furnished with a piece of flannel and 

 elastic, so as to prevent cold air from going up the sleeves. 

 Woollen cuffs answer the same purpose equally well, and 

 can be removed or put on as may be required. It is well 

 to have the tails of the coat lined with waterproof, in order 

 to save them from becoming wet and dirty by contact 

 with the horse A ring for the hat guard should be fixed 

 inside the collar, at the back of the neck. " American 

 shoulders " (padded broad shoulders) look so bad that they 

 ought not to be seen in the hunting field. 



Pink (scarlet) is the orthodox colour to go hunting in. 

 Consequently, whether a man belongs to a hunt or not, he is 

 as much entitled to wear a red coat when he follows the 

 hounds, as he is to don a pair of top boots. A black hunting 

 coat might be suitable for a man with a small stable, but 

 not for an owner of a large stud of horses, who ought to 

 be a " red-man," as they say in Leicestershire. 



The members of several hunts wear special collars. For 

 instance, the Pytchley wear white collars ; the Ledbury, 

 brown ; the West Somerset, black ; and the New Forest, 

 green ones, which are similar to the collars of the Tarporley 



