The light weight of most hunting ladies is a point in favour of the horse; but it is more than counterbalanced by the absence of support which a man who rides well can give with the right leg. It is the absence of this support in the case of a lady's horse, however well ridden, that causes him to tire sooner than he would if ridden by a gentleman; and hence the necessity in selecting a horse to carry a woman with hounds for having not only staying power, but two or three stone in hand. Nevertheless, although unable to give to the animal as much help as can be afforded by a gentleman, ladies can do much by the exercise of that tact and judgment which is their peculiar gift. Every lady who hunts is sure to be more or less an enthusiast about horses, and is always, according to my experience, ready to adopt any suggestion which tends to their well doing. I therefore venture to point one or two matters which I trust will be found useful. In the first place, when the hounds have settled to their fox and people have shaken themselves into their places, the fair rider in her early essays in the field should bestow her principal attention upon the animal, upon which depends much of her sport. With a good man by her side, she will run no risk from thrusting neighbours, and although she cannot too soon begin to have "one eye for the hounds and another for the horse," it is the latter which demands all her energies. The whole business is exciting. The genuine dash, the vigour, the reality, that is so striking to a novice when hounds come crashing out of covert, through an old wattle, or bounding over a strong fence; the up-ending and plunging of impatient young horses, the brilliant throng of fashionable equestrians, the rattle of the turf under the horses' feet as they stride away--all these, or any of them, are quite sufficient to warm up even old blood, and are certain to send that of the young going at such a pace that all rule and method in riding is very apt to be forgotten, or thrust aside in the eager desire "to be first." It is just at this critical moment that I would advise my fair readers to lay to heart the necessity of controlling their excitement, because it is at such a time that a horse, especially at the beginning of the season (if allowed), will "take out of himself" just what he will want hereafter, assuming a stout fox that means business to be to the front. A soothing word or two, and "making much" of the excited steed, will generally cause him to settle in his stride and cease romping; whereas, if the rider is excited as well as the horse, we have oil upon fire at once. Again, it cannot be too forcibly impressed upon ladies riding with hounds that the latter require _plenty of room to work_.