254 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



penetrable to the rain. As a general rule, it is easier 

 to have habits so treated before the cloth is made up, 

 but with boots it can be applied each week just like 

 blacking. 



If one's clothes have not been water-proofed, the 

 waterproofs made by Burberry, England, will be 

 found very serviceable. Those with a belt, which 

 prevent the wind from getting under them, are by 

 far the best. A rubber apron, is the only adequate 

 protection for a woman's right knee, which usually 

 gets the worst of a wetting. Thin emergency water- 

 proofs, weighing only ten ounces, prove useful, but of 

 course do not afford as much protection as the heavier 

 ones. White waterproofs, although smart in appear- 

 ance, soil very quickly and are, to boot, usually made 

 of a poor quality of rubber, which cracks. 



White or buff "cord" gloves are indispensable for 

 wet weather, for nothing is so unpleasant as a wet 

 doeskin glove, with which it is almost impossible to 

 hold the reins. Cord gloves should therefore always 

 be carried under the girths when hunting, in case they 

 are needed. 



Considered merely as an article of dress, and aside 

 from any use which it may be put to, the proper kind 

 of whip for all ordinary hacking, or for show-ring pur- 

 poses, is a short " swagger" stick made of bamboo, 

 twisted leather, or plain wood. A cutting whip 

 (with a leather loop for a point), should be used 

 only for schooling, or racing, for inasmuch as it is 

 made of whalebone covered with catgut, it is very 

 severe. 



The hunting crop, like most of our riding things, is 

 of English origin, and when hunting over there is an 

 indispensable article with which to open the latches of 



