The Horsewoman: A Practical Guide to Side-Saddle Riding, 2nd. Ed.

by Alice M. Hayes

For use in the tropics, a lady would require breeches of a very thin make of elastic cloth, and, if continuations were liked, it would be best to have them made detachable, as they could not be worn with comfort during the hot weather.

UNDERCLOTHING.

Ladies who hunt should always carefully protect themselves against chill by the adoption of warm underclothing, for they are frequently exposed for hours to bitter cold, wind, snow, sleet, hail and fog, and if one is thinly clad, and, as often happens, there is a long wait at a covert side, a dangerous chill may be contracted. An under-vest of “natural” wool should be worn next the skin, and a pair of woollen combinations—which button close to the throat, and are provided with long sleeves, will be found very comfortable and warm. Combinations are better for riding use at any time than ordinary underclothing, as there is no superfluous material in them to become displaced and cause discomfort. They can be had in very thin material for use in the tropics and for summer wear. Warm woollen stockings are to be recommended for hunting, and especially for ladies who suffer from cold feet. Those who find woollen garments irritating to the skin may remove the difficulty by wearing them over thin silk. Any trouble in keeping the stockings in place can be best overcome by the use of plain sewn elastic garters, which have no buckles or straps, being placed below the knees, and the upper part of the stockings turned back over them and pulled down the leg as far as they will go, so that each stocking may lie perfectly flat on the leg. The elastic bands should be of the usual garter width, and should be sufficiently roomy not to hurt the legs. As I found chamois leather, with which breeches are usually lined, unsatisfactory, I invented a comfortable substitute for it in the form of a removable pad, which has met with the approval of several hunting women. I would be happy to give privately any particulars concerning this invention to ladies who may be interested in it.

HATS.

The tall silk hat has, during recent years, been largely superseded by the more comfortable if less elegant-looking bowler. On hunt full-dress occasions, such as a Quorn Friday, the ladies of the hunt generally wear tall hats, but I notice that bowlers have as a rule been worn during the rest of the week. The high hat is said to be the more becoming of the two, but it takes a lot of trouble to keep in order, and a bowler is more comfortable and useful for rough work. A lady who is wearing a tall hat for the first time, should not forget to lower her head well in passing under trees, as this kind of head-gear requires more head room than a bowler. The best arrangement for keeping a riding hat firmly fixed on the head is to have a small piece of velvet sewn inside the front, so that it comes on the forehead, and to have for the back, a piece of elastic an inch wide sewn to the hat, well to the front. Care should be taken that the elastic is not too tight, in which case it might cause a nasty headache, as well as a ridge on the forehead from the pressure of the hat. In selecting a bowler, a lady should be careful to choose a becoming shape, as these hats vary greatly in form. To my mind, the kind most generally becoming has a low crown and rather broad brim. High-crowned hats with closely turned-up brim are trying to most faces.

Although it is not usual for hunting women in the Shires to wear hat-guards, I would strongly recommend their adoption, because, however well a hat may be secured by elastic, an overhanging branch at a fence may knock it off, and it is as well to be able to recover it without assistance. When hunting this season, I lost my hat at a fence, and my long-suffering husband had to give up a good place in a run to go back and fetch it, whereas, if I had had a hat-guard, this tiresome occurrence would have been prevented. It is best to attach the cord of the hat-guard to a button-hole of the habit-jacket, for then, if the hat comes off, the cord can be more easily caught than if it is fastened inside the back of the collar of the coat. On windy days the advantage of a hat-cord is obvious. Ladies who object to its use may say that overhanging branches should be avoided, but when hounds are running, and one is mounted on a tall horse, it is impossible to always steer clear of stray twigs, and therefore men find a hat-guard very useful.

For tropical climates the pith hat or sola topee ([Fig. 62]) is best for the hot weather. Helmets, besides being apt to give one a headache on account of their weight, do not afford sufficient protection to the rider’s temples from the sun. The double Terai hat of grey felt ([Fig. 61]) is becoming, but it is very heavy. Pith is lightest and most suitable for wear during intense heat. In the cool weather a bowler or straw sailor may be worn; but even in the cold season ladies should avoid wearing a small hat when the sun is above the horizon, for its rays are treacherous. I have had many a splitting headache from disregard of this precaution.

In trying on a riding hat, the hair should be dressed low down, as it will be worn when riding, in order to obtain a comfortable fit; for the hat must fit the head and not be perched on the top of it, or it will not “remain” if the horse goes out of a walk. The old arrangement of dressing the hair in a coil of plaits at the nape of the neck has quite gone out, but it was a far neater one for riding than the “tea-pot handle” and other curious knobs and buns of the present time. The pulled-out style, in bad imitation of Japanese hair dressing, gives a dirty and untidy appearance, and looks perfectly hideous on horseback, and especially when the place where the back hair ought to be, is adorned with a round brooch! If ladies who adopt this bad style could only see how much it vulgarises an otherwise nice appearance, they would at once abjure it. A neat way to arrange the hair for hunting is to coil it firmly round the head, and fasten it with plenty of hairpins—those bent in the centre and with ball points are, I think, the most reliable—and to pin over the hair an “invisible” silken net the same colour as the hair, which will keep it tidy.

BOOTS.

I wish to lay particular stress on the necessity of riding boots having thin pliable soles, and being easy over the instep; because I once saw a lady dragged by her stirrup and only saved from death by her boot coming off and thus releasing her. I do not think that sufficient attention is paid either by ladies or bootmakers to the fact that a loose riding boot may be the means of saving its wearer’s life: I never devoted much thought to the subject before witnessing this accident. The use of tight boots in winter has the great disadvantage of keeping the feet very cold, even when warm stockings are worn. Saddlers have invented safety bars and stirrups, habit makers have provided safety skirts, but bootmakers have not yet thought out a hunting boot which would release the foot in the event of a safety bar failing to act, or of a safety or other stirrup being crushed in a fall. A thin pliable sole and plenty of room over the instep to allow of the left foot being easily pulled through the boot, would greatly minimise the danger in question. We seldom hear of a jockey being dragged, although flat races are ridden in saddles that have no releasing bars, and even steeplechases are often ridden in these saddles, when a rider has a difficulty in getting down to the weight; but all jockeys wear boots which have thin, and, consequently, very pliable soles. Fashion dictates that ladies’ top-boots should be as high as those worn by men, which is very absurd; because they are not seen, and the hard, unyielding leather of a high top-boot pressing either on the breeches buttons, or on the under part of the right leg is apt to cause great pain and discomfort. Then, again, when a Champion and Wilton saddle with safety bar flap is used, the top of the left boot is liable to catch in the flap when its wearer is rising at the trot and is thus apt to release the stirrup leather. [Fig. 64] shows the top of the boot in position to raise the safety bar flap in the manner mentioned. I have obviated these inconveniences and have ridden in comfort by wearing boots made two inches shorter than the regulation height, and by wearing breeches with “continuations,” no stockings are exposed to view, even when one gets a fall. With boots of this length there is no possibility of the left leg being hurt by pressure of boot and breeches buttons on the shin bone. Fashionable bootmakers who build boots for ladies on the pattern of those worn by men, seem to be unaware of the fact that a woman’s grip in a side-saddle is entirely different from that of a man in a cross-saddle, and many ladies suffer unnecessary discomfort by meekly accepting what they are told is “the proper thing.” Our friend Mr. James Fillis, in his interesting work, Breaking and Riding, says that for ladies’ wear he prefers “ordinary boots to long boots, which are too hard, and are consequently apt to cut the wearer under the knee, and to prevent her feeling the horse with her leg;” but as ordinary boots would not be considered sufficiently smart for hunting, or even hacking in the Row, the compromise I advocate will be found to answer all requirements. In ordering a pair of riding boots we should go to a good maker and have them of patent leather, which is smarter and cleaner than blacking leather. For wear in tropical countries, I found that boots which have the foot part of patent leather and the leg of morocco, with a thin leather lining to stiffen and keep the leg part in place, are cooler and more comfortable than any other kind. A pair of boot-hooks will be required for putting them on, and a boot-jack for taking them off. A little Lucca oil used occasionally prevents patent leather from cracking. The dry mud should be brushed off soiled boots with a soft brush that will not scratch the leather, and they should then be sponged over with a damp sponge and polished with a selvyt or chamois leather. Patent leather, which has lost its brightness from wear, can be polished with Harris’s Harness Polish or any similar preparation which does not cake on the leather or injure it in any way. We should remember that boots will last much longer and retain their shape to the end if they are always kept, when not in use, on trees. It is best to wear new riding boots in the house before they are ridden in, so as to make them pliable to the “tread” in walking, and to work off their stiff and uncomfortable feeling.