In the same way, it is injudicious to take a horse to a place where others are refusing, either from their own or their riders' timidity. He is liable to be infected with their faint-heartedness; for it needs an unusually sensible, reliable horse to be the first to jump out from a crowd at a place that has stopped those in front of him.
It is far better for a woman to choose another way of reaching the hounds than to risk adding to the number of refusers, unless she be so well mounted as to be sure of giving the rest a lead.
Excitable and Sluggish Horses
A hot-headed, excitable horse will go more quietly if he can be made to think he is ahead of the others. Therefore his rider should choose a line for herself, apart from the others, and if he is a good performer it will be safer to put him at a big jump where he can take it coolly than to trust him at a smaller place where other horses are crowding and goading him into a state of such impatience that in his anxiety to overtake any one in front of him he will jump without calculation, and endanger all in his vicinity by kicking, rearing, or rushing.
A sluggish horse, on the contrary, should be kept near others, that their lead and example may arouse his ambition and keep up his heart. It will not do to allow such a horse to fall far behind, as he will probably get discouraged and refuse to jump without a fight, at the end of which the hunt may have disappeared in the distance.
Proximity to Hounds
It is never wise to ride on the line of hounds, but rather to the right or left of them. Horses directly behind them frighten the hounds and interfere with their hunting. It also makes a few run very fast to keep from being galloped over, while many others sneak away or get behind the horses, of whose heels they stand in terror.
It is a nuisance to be obliged to stop and give some slow hound a chance to get by, or, if not considerate enough to do this, no rider likes to see a hound going through a fence with the probability of having a horse jump on him, should he pause for a moment on the other side.
A woman will escape these occurrences if she will keep to one side of the pack. In this position it is permissible to ride farther up than when so doing would bring her too near the pack; but the leading hounds must be watched closely, and should always be allowed plenty of room to turn sharp to the side where she is, without bringing them in contact with her horse. The instant they check, or even hover, for a moment, a woman must stop, and for two reasons:
In the first place, because she does not want to be in the way should it be necessary to cast the hounds in her direction; and, secondly, because she should seize every opportunity of giving her horse a few moments' respite, which she can afford to do if well enough up to notice what the hounds are doing.