374 HUNTING. 



whose services will be very useful to her, in the event 

 of anything going wrong, and in helping her in various 

 ways. It would be absurd for her to expect casual aid 

 at every turn, in a large field composed chiefly of 

 strangers, especially when its giver would be deprived 

 of his place in a run. 



Pilots seem to be going out of fashion, if we may 

 judge by the large number of women who hunt safely 

 without their assistance. The inexperienced huntress 

 generally has her father, brother, husband, or some male 

 friend or servant to show her the way, which is the 

 safest and best method of learning to hunt, because 

 they would know both the capabilities of the young- 

 lady and her mount, and could be trusted to keep 

 her out of harm's way. If a paid pilot is engaged, 

 his horse should not be a better fencer than that 

 of his charge. He should also know her riding 

 form, and over what kind of jumps she intends him 

 to lead her. 



I would strongly impress on an inexperienced lady 

 the necessity of learning to judge pace, that is to say, 

 to know at what speed her horse is going. The chief 

 duty of a pilot is to set the pace for her, and to select 

 such fences as he knows her horse is capable of 

 jumping, the former being more important than the 

 latter, as it is far more difficult to learn. She should 

 see that her pilot is safely over a fence before sending 

 her horse at it. Only practice and natural aptitude 

 can teach a lady to judge pace: it cannot be learnt 

 from any book. 



