The requirements of the various hunting countries differ greatly. For the Shires, a lady would want a well-bred galloper which can “spread himself out” over his fences, because there is almost always a ditch or a rail on one side or the other of the Midland hedges. Temperate he must be, because the fields in Leicestershire, for instance, are so large that there is often a crowd of riders waiting their turn at the only practicable place in a jump, filing through a gate, or waiting en masse in a cramped space at the covert side, and a horse who displays temper on such occasions is naturally regarded as a nuisance and danger by the rest of the field. Besides, it must be remembered that nothing tends to spoil the nerves of any rider, man or woman, more than attempting to hunt in a big country like Leicestershire on a bad-tempered horse, and especially on a refuser which has a tendency to rear. On no account should a lady ride a roarer, although the artful dealer may assure her that the “whistle” which the animal makes, will be a secret unknown to any one except herself and the horse. In the large majority of cases, roaring is a disease which increases with time, and the accompanying noise is distressing to all lovers of horses who hear it. Kickers, even with red bows on their tails, should on no account be ridden; for they are a danger to man, woman, horse, and hound, and are the cause of many accidents every hunting season. It would appear that ladies—not those of the present day, let us hope—were not sufficiently careful in insisting on this last-mentioned requirement in their hunters; for Captain Elmhirst, writing in 1883, says, “Horse dealers, farmers, and—we are sorry to add—ladies must especially be avoided; for who ever saw a vicious kicker that was not ridden by one of these three?”
Apart from the danger to others, it is obvious that no sane woman would ride a horse which would be likely to kick her in the event of a fall. When I was in India, I had to get rid of a horse because of his vicious tendency in this respect. He was a good-looking Australian, a clever fencer, and had a nice mouth, but so vicious that when we first got him, he used to rush open-mouthed at any one who went near him, except his syce. My husband took him in hand, and he became sufficiently civilised to take carrots from me. When I rode him, I found he was always looking out for an excuse to “play up,” or to lash out at other horses. In order to test his jumping, a lightweight gentleman rider one day rode him over a made course. The animal blundered badly at one of the fences, threw his rider, and while the man was lying on his back on the ground the horse deliberately put a fore foot on him, and would have doubtless broken his back, if my husband, who was standing near the fence, had not pulled the vicious brute off. We got rid of him, and I heard shortly afterwards that he had killed his jockey, a native, in a hurdle race at Calcutta, by the adoption of similar vicious tactics. It would have been criminal to have taken such a horse as that into any hunting-field.
A hunter should have good shoulders (long, flat, and oblique) and a comparatively high forehand; for horses which are lower in front than at the croup are uncomfortable to ride, and there is generally some difficulty in retaining the side saddle in its place on their backs. The height of a hunter will depend greatly on that of his rider. For instance, a tall woman with a “comfortable” figure would be suitably mounted on a horse 16 hands or more high, whereas a light girl of medium height would find an animal of say 15-2 as much as she could comfortably manage; for we must remember that big horses, as a rule, take a good deal of “collecting.” A small horse generally stays better, can come out oftener, is handier, and not so likely to hurt one if he falls. For the Shires I do not think a lady’s hunter should be much under 15-2, and he must be a big jumper and well bred. Hunting women, as a rule, do not pay much attention to the good looks of their horses, for hunting is not a church parade, and the finest performer over a country is always admired and coveted whatever his appearance may be. The same may be said about colour; although, as a grey horse is conspicuous enough to be singled out of a crowd of bays and browns, a lady who is at all “impartial” in her seat would do well to select a horse wearing a less noticeable tint of coat. As rearing is the worst vice a lady’s mount can possess, no horse who has a tendency to rear should be ridden by a woman, as from her position in the side-saddle she is far more helpless than a man on such an animal. A lady’s hunter should not have too light a mouth, but should go nicely up to his bridle, and not resent the use of the curb, which is sometimes necessary in avoiding danger. He should on no account be inclined to pull. A perfect hunter is like a thorough good sportsman, who regards his share of bangs and blows as all in the day’s work. As the majority of hunters have their own likes and dislikes about jumping certain kinds of fences, a lady should know precisely what to expect from her mount and what his jumping capabilities are, before taking him into the hunting-field, which is not the place for experiments. I had many pleasant days out hunting with the Quorn, Belvoir, Cottesmore, and North Cheshire on the Irish mare, Salary ([Fig. 5]).
In summing up the requirements of a hunter for either man or woman, I cannot do better than to quote the following sound advice from Whyte Melville: “People talk about size and shape, shoulders, quarters, blood, bone and muscle, but for my part, give me a hunter with brains. He has to take care of the biggest fool of the two, and think for both.”
