SPUR. 183 



occurrence for high school lady riders to be securely 

 tied to their saddles. , 



We must remember that a hunter has to carry his 

 rider for several hours. Hunting is not steeplechasing, 

 and if a reluctant fencer cannot be sufficiently roused 

 by a touch of the whip, I fail to see what is to be 

 gained by spurring him on the near side, and thus 

 giving him a direct incentive to refuse to the left. Be- 

 sides, as it is the opinion of some of our best horsemen 

 that nine out of every ten men who hunt would be 

 better and more safely carried if they rode without 

 spurs, I certainly think that no lady should subject her 

 hunter to " the insult of the spur," especially as she can 

 inflict the punishment only on the near side, and thus 

 provoke a defensive attitude which she has no compen- 

 sating power to successfully resist. 



Some years ago I rode in a jumping competition at 

 Ranelagh. There were about twenty men and one 

 lady besides myself among the competitors. The lady 

 found at the last moment that she had forgotten her 

 spur, and a servant was sent to her trap for it, as she 

 said she could not ride w^ithout it. She used her spur, 

 but was unable to get her horse over even the first 

 fence ! Lufra, a well-known prize winner at the Agricul- 

 tural Hall and elsewhere, won the Cup, after a strong 

 contest against my horse Gustave, who was given a red 

 rosette for being second. Gustave had never jumped 

 in a competition before. He was ridden in a plain 

 snaffle, and the only mistake he made was in just 

 tipping the raised gate with his hind legs. He was 



