WHIP.
The chief uses of a hunting whip are to help the rider to manipulate gates, and to be cracked; the former being much more necessary to a horsewoman than the latter. The crop should therefore be of a serviceable length. It is the very silly fashion at present to have hunting whips that are less than two feet long. Many are made of whalebone, and are covered with catgut, their special advantage being that their flexibility greatly facilitates the process of cracking. A more serviceable crop for a lady is one of stiff cane, the thick end of the handle of which is made rough, as in [Fig. 85], or is provided with a metal stud, so that the handle may not slip when it is pushed against a gate. Formerly, two feet three inches was the usual length of a hunting crop for both sexes. Three feet is a much better length for ladies, who cannot “get down into their saddle” like men. Besides, a fairly long crop is very useful for keeping a horse straight by the rider touching him with it on the off flank when he wants to run out to the left, which is his favourite side for refusing in the large majority of cases. A short crop is useless for this purpose, as the right hand will be fully occupied on such trying occasions in keeping the animal’s head toward the obstacle, and the crop should be able to perform its share of the work by a turn of the wrist, care being taken that no jerk is communicated to the rein.
The thong is about three feet ten inches long, is furnished with a lash, which is about a foot long, and is attached to the keeper, which is a leather loop at the end of the crop. Men generally like a thong of white pipe-clayed leather, but as the colour is apt to come off and soil one’s habit, a brown leather thong is best for ladies.
The keeper of the modern hunting whip has a slit, near its end, through both thicknesses of leather. In attaching the thong, the loop at its upper end is placed over the end of the keeper, and it is then passed through the slit and drawn tightly ([Fig. 86]). The old-fashioned keeper, which is still greatly in use, is a simple loop of leather, over which the loop of the thong is put, and the remainder of the thong is threaded through the opening at the end of the keeper ([Fig. 87]). A wrong way to put on the thong is, in the first instance, to pass the loop of the thong through (instead of over) the keeper ([Fig. 88]). Some authorities might take exception to the way the thong is put on in [Fig. 89].
To facilitate the use of the thong, it is well to have a long keeper, as in [Fig. 86]. The keeper of the whip which is shown in [Fig. 85], and also in [Fig. 87], is too short.
The chief use of the thong in hunting is to recover the crop if it happens to be pulled out of the hand when opening a gate, before doing which, one or more turns of the thong are consequently taken round the hand. It also enables us to warn off hounds who approach too near our horses’ legs, on which occasions the whip should be held at arm’s length, with thong and lash vertical. A touch of the lash may aid in encouraging a friend’s horse to go through something to which he objects, but a man would doubtless be handy to do the needful in such a case. It would be well for a lady to know how to crack her whip, if her help were required in turning hounds, or in hurrying up a laggard hound; but this art should first be learnt on foot, under the tuition of a competent man, in much the same way as Mr. Frank Ward teaches his pupils to catch the thong with precision for four-in-hand driving; and the lady’s hunter must also be trained to stand having a whip cracked on his back, before any experiment of that kind is performed in the hunting field. It is a good plan to first accustom hunters to the cracking of a whip in or near their stables, letting them see the performance, and, after a ridden horse will quietly stand the whip being flicked, his rider may safely crack it, supposing, of course, she is able to wield her flail correctly, and without touching the animal; hence the necessity of acquiring precision in this art before attempting it on horseback. An experienced hunting woman tells me that women should be as useful in the field as men; but I fear that is impossible, for we cannot get on and off our horses as easily as men, to render prompt help in cases of emergency; hold open a gate on a windy day, or perform the numerous kindly acts which fall to the lot of the mere male. Besides, however active and well-intentioned we may be, we are hampered by our dress, and still more so by the want of it, in the case of an apron skirt. If a crop is used for hacking, say in the Row, the thong should be taken off, for it would look as much out of place there as a pink hunting coat. The whip should be always carried handle downwards, on the off-side, as if we were trying to conceal its presence, and not as though we were riding with “a rein in each hand, and a whip in the other.”
In a country of hedges, like the Shires, it is well to acquire the habit of holding the whip in such a way that the handle of the whip will point directly backwards; for if it is inclined outwards, it will be apt to catch in a branch or twig, when going through a bullfinch ([Fig. 90]) or straggling hedge.
