MODERN FOX-HUNTING 21 



tages undoubtedly are, they would be valueless unless 

 the possessor of them had a strong nerve, fine hands 

 and a firm seat. 



As was only to be expected, these visits of the 

 Kaiserin to English hunting-fields, the first of which 

 took place in the 1877-78 season, when she rented 

 Cottesbrooke Park, did much to increase the popularity 

 of fox-hunting amongst ladies. But the popularity was 

 not an unmixed blessing. Many of the new recruits 

 were not popular with Masters of Hounds. They 

 lacked "the calm repose of Vere de Vere." Other 

 ladies hunted who could not afford to hunt, and so 

 were obliged to ride cheap horses. Now, a lady 

 should have as safe a conveyance across country as it 

 is possible to procure. Her horse should have been 

 so thoroughly schooled over every description of fence 

 that it should be almost an impossibility for him to put 

 a foot wrong, and his temper should be perfect. 

 The habit of mounting ladies on thoroughbreds which 

 have been weeded out of racing-stables is dangerous 

 to a degree bordering on crime. I have even seen a 

 young girl riding a broken-down polo pony ! I do not 

 wish to be ungallant, but I must lodge a protest against 

 the manners of certain lady-cyclists, who apparently 

 wish to assert their independence of fox-hunting 

 etiquette by attempting to follow hounds on their 

 machines. I have seen ladies trying to thread their 

 way down a narrow lane through a cavalcade of 

 excited horses, at the risk of being kicked to death. 

 These ladies do not understand the risk which they 

 are encountering, or, to judge by their conduct, place 



