CUTTING WHIPS. 



215 



A crook-handled cutting whip is a cutting whip with a 

 handle like that of a hunting crop. Although at first glance 

 it appears from a riding point of view to combine the 

 advantages of both kinds of whips, its shaft as a rule is too 

 pliable to allow it to be very efficient in opening gates. 



The presence of a cutting whip with hounds is generally 

 viewed with disapproval ; because it savours too much of 

 horse-breaking and rough riding. The practice of these arts 

 is certainly out of place in the hunting field, as it is apt to 

 cause danger and inconvenience to others. 



Fig. 191. Shortening the reins before using 

 the whip with the right hand. 



A cutting whip is usually carried by the rider with the lash 

 down ; for if the point of the whip be kept up, the horse will 

 probably watch it, expecting a cut at any moment, and his 

 attention will consequently be distracted from his work. 

 When the rider, like a jockey towards the end of a race, is 

 waiting to use it as a stimulant to the horse to go on, and 

 does not know which hand he may be called upon to use, he 

 had best hold the whip six or seven inches from the butt 

 end, so that he may be ready, if necessary, to change it 

 into the other hand without delay. In order to use the whip 



