Thanking you, Sir, for your kindness in granting me so much of your valuable space.
I am, yours obediently,
Nannie Power O'Donoghue.
Sir,—In a recent edition "Jack Spur" asks if it is usual in any country for ladies to ride à la Duchess de Berri, i.e. as a gentleman, astride. In Mexico and the States of the River Plate this is the usual mount of the fair ones of the district, and, clad in loose Turkish pantalettes tucked into the riding-boots of soft yellow leather, a loose sort of tunic secured by a belt, and wearing the ladies' "sombrero," very charming these fair équestriennes look, and splendid horsewomen they are. Talk of ladies, your "Fair Play" should see the long, sharp, Mexican spurs attached to the heels of these fair prairie-rangers, and witness how unsparingly they are used. Sometimes I, who am no namby-pamby rider, and have seen my share of rough work, have ventured to remonstrate in a half-jocular manner (as became a stranger and foreigner) when riding along with a Mexican lady, who generally keeps her steed at a full gallop by the remorseless application of these instruments of punishment. But the reply was merely a silvery laugh, and "Ah, senor, here horses are cheap, and when one is finished we have plenty more for the catching. Come along!" My experience of ladies on horseback as a rule is that they are more severe than men; perhaps it is thoughtlessness, but certainly for hard riding and severe spurring I have never seen any to surpass a Mexican senora, whose favourite pace is a stretching gallop without cessation, until her steed is perfectly pumped out, and as horseflesh is of no value whatever, and no Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals exists, I am afraid I must record a verdict of cruelty against some of the most charming women I ever met. To their fellow mortals all kindness and goodness, but when mounted on their mustang they seem to forget that he can feel either fatigue or pain. Certainly the temptation is great. A horse is of no value; you seldom mount the same twice on a journey, and across the beautiful prairies a wild gallop is the pace. But I should be sorry to see an English lady dismount from her steed, leaving him utterly exhausted and pumped out, and his flanks streaming with blood from deep spur-strokes. This I have too often seen in South America. Everyone does it, and it is little thought of; but by all means let us cherish a better feeling, and not give any needless pain to that noble animal, the horse. Let the ladies avoid the use of sharp spurs; most horses ridden by ladies here are perfectly amenable to the whip and rein, and the use of the spur is somewhat inharmonious with the gentle character of our English women.
Guacho.
St. Leonards, 1880.
"The correspondence upon this subject, called forth by Mrs. Power O'Donoghue's admirable papers 'Ladies on Horseback,' has been so voluminous, and appears likely to go on for such a lengthened period, that I am reluctantly obliged to bring it to a close, in order to make space for other matter."—Ed. Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.
London: Printed by W. H. Allen & Co., 13, Waterloo Place, S.W.