158 WHIPS 



braided with gilt wire and silk. The thong for 

 a tandem is generally twelve feet long, on a 

 stick five feet three inches in length. Team 

 whips are a little heavier and have a thong 

 thirteen to fourteen feet in length, and a stick 

 about five feet one inch. Whilst on this subject, 

 it may interest good whips to learn that some 

 accomplished four-in-hand drivers have been able 

 to catch the lashes of two whips at the same 

 time. 



Ladies' whips fifty or sixty years ago were 

 wretchedly flimsy little things. Ladies carry 

 sensible crops in our time, but they do not always 

 handle them in a professional manner. A lady's 

 crop should be strong enough to give a deter- 

 mined refuser a good sound thrashing ; at the 

 same time it should be lis^ht and look like a neat 

 and small edition of a hunting whip used by the 

 stronger sex. A lady should carry a crop in 

 her right hand, in order to prevent a horse from 

 swerving on the off-side ; the lash should be 

 gathered into two loops, and the stock held a 

 few inches from the keeper. Few women can 

 crack a whip easily on a fidgety horse ; in fact, 

 it takes them all their time to use it gracefully 

 on a quiet mount. The explanation is simple 

 enough. Not one lady in a hundred has been 

 taught to handle any kind of whip in a pro- 

 fessional manner, and without a proper training 

 nobody can excel in any accomplishment. To 

 be able to " flick a fly off your leader's ear " is a 

 feat which the dashing hero in a sporting yellow- 

 back can do without difficulty, but those used to 



