第6章 THE LADY WHO RIDES TO HOUNDS(1)

Among those who hunt there are two classes of hunting people who always like it,and these people are hunting parsons and hunting ladies.That it should be so is natural enough.In the life and habits of parsons and ladies there is much that is antagonistic to hunting,and they who suppress this antagonism do so because they are Nimrods at heart.But the riding of these horsemen under difficulties,horsemen and horsewomen,leaves a strong impression on the casual observer of hunting;for to such an one it seems that the hardest riding is forthcoming exactly where no hard riding should be expected.On the present occasion I will,if you please,confine myself to the lady who rides to hounds,and will begin with an assertion,which will not be contradicted,that the number of such ladies is very much on the increase.

Women who ride,as a rule,ride better than men.They,the women,have always been instructed;whereas men have usually come to ride without any instruction.They are put upon ponies when they are all boys,and put themselves upon their fathers'horses as they become hobbledehoys:and thus they obtain the power of sticking on to the animal while he gallops and jumps,and even while he kicks and shies;and,so progressing,they achieve an amount of horsemanship which answers the purposes of life.But they do not acquire the art of riding with exactness,as women do,and rarely have such hands as a woman has on a horse's mouth.

The consequence of this is that women fall less often than men,and the field is not often thrown into the horror which would arise were a lady known to be in a ditch with a horse lying on her.

I own that I like to see three or four ladies out in a field,and I like it the better if I am happy enough to count one or more of them among my own acquaintances.Their presence tends to take off from hunting that character of horseyness,of both fast horseyness and slow horseyness,which has become,not unnaturally,attached to it,and to bring it within the category of gentle sports.There used to prevail an idea that the hunting man was of necessity loud and rough,given to strong drinks,ill adapted for the poetries of life,and perhaps a little prone to make money out of his softer friend.It may now be said that this idea is going out of vogue,and that hunting men are supposed to have that same feeling with regard to their horses,the same and no more,which ladies have for their carriage or soldiers for their swords.Horses are valued simply for the services that they can render,and are only valued highly when they are known to be good servants.That a man may hunt without drinking or swearing,and may possess a nag or two without any propensity to sell it or them for double their value,is now beginning to be understood.

The oftener that women are to be seen "out,"the more will such improved feelings prevail as to hunting,and the pleasanter will be the field to men who are not horsey,but who may nevertheless be good horsemen.

There are two classes of women who ride to hounds,or,rather,among many possible classifications,there are two to which Iwill now call attention.There is the lady who rides,and demands assistance;and there is the lady who rides,and demands none.

Each always,I may say always,receives all the assistance that she may require;but the difference between the two,to the men who ride with them,is very great.It will,of course,be understood that,as to both these samples of female Nimrods,Ispeak of ladies who really ride,not of those who grace the coverts with,and disappear under the auspices of,their papas or their grooms when the work begins.

The lady who rides and demands assistance in truth becomes a nuisance before the run is over,let her beauty be ever so transcendent,her horsemanship ever-so perfect,and her battery of general feminine artillery ever so powerful.She is like the American woman,who is always wanting your place in a railway carriage,and demanding it,too,without the slightest idea of paying you for it with thanks;whose study it is to treat you as though she ignored your existence while she is appropriating your services.The hunting lady who demands assistance is very particular about her gates,requiring that aid shall be given to her with instant speed,but that the man who gives it shall never allow himself to be hurried as he renders it.And she soon becomes reproachful,oh,so soon !It is marvellous to watch the manner in which a hunting lady will become exacting,troublesome,and at last imperious,deceived and spoilt by the attention which she receives.She teaches herself to think at last that a man is a brute who does not ride as though he were riding as her servant,and that it becomes her to assume indignation if every motion around her is not made with some reference to her safety,to her comfort,or to her success.I have seen women look as Furies look,and heard them speak as Furies are supposed to speak,because men before them could not bury themselves and their horses out of their way at a moment's notice,or because some pulling animal would still assert himself while they were there,and not sink into submission and dog-like obedience for their behoof.